Add excitement to chicken recipes

Although we’ve just finished a poultry-eating marathon, we’ve also entered the year-end rush of holidays. Whether readying for your children’s holiday recital, frantic cyber-shopping or drafting the annual letter to tuck into greeting cards, cooking the evening meal often falls to the end of the queue. Like many of you, the easiest dinner choice (after leftovers) is to reach for a package of boneless chicken breasts. They cook quickly and can be readily transformed with spices and seasonings.

Boneless chicken breasts are a handy way to handle the “lost track of time, everyone’s hungry, let’s cook something in a hurry” dinnertime challenge. One downside of cooking in a rush, especially chicken, is providing enough time for the meat to absorb flavor from the other ingredients in the dish. There are two remedies: keep track of time and start cooking earlier (easier said than done) or crank up the spices to compensate for fast assembly. I decided to try both approaches.

My first attempt at chicken excitement combined signature Mediterranean flavors: capers, Kalamata olives and sliced lemon. The key to this dish is layering the sauce with roasted slices of lemon and onion, which are browned in the oven before combining with the chicken. This recipe is a good candidate for a flavored chicken broth or stock: look for a wine- or thyme- seasoned version to add richness. If you’re not a cilantro fan, substitute chopped parsley or basil in this recipe. As you can see from the photo, it looks lovely served over blanched baby spinach.

The next challenge was to look for different spices to replace my standard (but convenient) choices like Italian spice mix or Mrs. Dash. My favorite source is Penzey’s, a Wisconsin-based company with reasonable prices and an excellent selection. They stock almost every imaginable herb and seasoning, including some I didn’t recognize. They regularly add multi-purpose custom blends and offer a wide range of package sizes (smaller is better to keep spices from losing their potency).  Since we don’t have a local Penzey’s retail outlet, I went to their website (www.penzeys.com) for inspiration.

In addition to mouthwatering descriptions of the spices, they provide helpful suggestions on how to use their products and feature sample recipes. In search of something bold, I was captivated by the complexity and flavor promises of paprika.  Fortunately, the jar in my cupboard was the more-desirable (for longer cooking times) Hungarian (not California) paprika. The combination of smoky paprika and distinctive caraway was the perfect foil for the chopped chicken breasts.  Dollops of sour cream gave the dish a lush texture – definitely not bland.

The final recipe I’ve included features one of Jack’s favorite tastes: Balsamic vinegar.  This sauce balances the bold acidity of the Balsamic with milder rice wine vinegar to wake up the chicken and give the dish a rosy glow. This is a good candidate for dinner when the tomatoes on your kitchen counter aren’t pretty enough to toss into a salad. If you’re out of fresh tomatoes, a can of petite-diced tomatoes (with or without seasonings – your choice) works just as well. I knew I’d succeeded in banning the chicken blahs when Jack asked for more!

Lemon Kalamata Chicken
1 sliced lemon
1 sliced onion
2 T olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 T flour
2/3 C chicken stock
1 T drained capers
1/2 C sliced Kalamata olives
1 T chopped cilantro

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and drizzle with 1 T olive oil.  Arrange the lemon slices in a single layer, turning to coat both sides with oil. Scatter onion slices over lemons and sprinkle with salt and pepper; bake for 25 minutes.

When lemon edges are barely browned, remove pan from oven and set aside. Heat 1 T olive oil in a large, deep skillet.  Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper; dust with flour and shake off excess. Place chicken in pan and cook over medium heat until golden, turning once, about 4 minutes each side.  Pour in the stock and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Stir in capers and olives and bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add lemons and onions; adjust seasonings and simmer until chicken is cooked through. Serve on a bed of blanched spinach or arugula. Yield: 4 servings.

Chicken Paprikash
2 T olive oil
1 sliced onion
1 sliced red pepper
2 sliced garlic cloves
1 T flour
2 T Hungarian paprika
1 t caraway seeds, ground*
3 C chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 thyme sprig
salt & pepper, to taste
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 C sour cream

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium; add the onion, peppers and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour, paprika and caraway and simmer for about 3 minutes. Add the stock and seasonings; bring to a boil and then reduce to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and the peppers are tender, about 45 minutes. Chop the chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes and stir into the thickened sauce. Simmer until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprig.  Serve chicken and sauce over rice or noodles, garnished with a dollop of sour cream. Yield: 4 servings. *Note: the easiest way to grind the caraway seeds is with a mortar and pestle.

Balsamic Chicken
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
salt & pepper, to taste
3 garlic cloves
1/3 C Balsamic vinegar
1/3 C rice wine vinegar
2 diced tomatoes
2 T chopped parsley

Melt the butter and olive oil in a large, deep skillet.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper and place in the skillet.  Cook over medium heat until golden brown, about 4 minutes each side.

Toss in the garlic cloves and tomato; pour in the vinegar and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom. Reduce heat to low and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Transfer chicken to a serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Bring the sauce to a boil and mash the garlic cloves; simmer until liquid is slightly thickened. Add parsley and adjust seasonings. Pour sauce over chicken and serve with roasted fingerling potatoes.