Two Girls Cook

I know I have been a bit remiss (okay, who are we kidding, a LOT remiss) in my blog postings as of late, so I am trying to get back on track and share with you some of the things I have been doing while I have been away.

I went over to my friend's house a couple of weekends ago, and we decided to make this Balsamic Glazed Chicken Breast Recipe from FoodNetwork.com. We modified it a bit since we just used about half the chicken (4 breasts prepackaged from the store), so we consequently halved the rest of the ingredients. I am giving the original version here.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 stick butter
• 12 (6 oz.) boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 Spanish onion, thinly sliced
• 4 gloves garlic, chopped
• 2 pints cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 cups red wine
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Put the vegetable oil and butter into a large skillet and place over high heat. Once the butter and oil are bubbling, add the chicken breasts to the skillet 4 at a time. Sear on each side until the chicken is golden, about 1 minute per side. Remove to a large baking dish. Repeat with the remaining breasts and set aside.
3. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, toss to combine and then follow with the balsamic vinegar and red wine and season with salt and pepper. Bring up to a bubble then reduce the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. [Simmering the wine in this mixture does not reduce the alcohol content substantially. Little Miss This and That in: Yay!]
4. Pour the balsamic mixture over the chicken and place the pan in the top half of the oven for 10 minutes, or until the chicken has just cooked through. Remove from the oven, garnish with freshly chopped parsley and set into a prepared chafer.

And now the pictures from our dinner...

This recipe was extremely simple to make. I mean, it only has 9 ingredients: chicken breasts, vegetable oil, butter, onion, tomatoes, garlic, parsley, balsamic vinegar and red wine. And the wine wasn't just for drinking! Though having a glass while cooking with a very dear friend is one of life's greatest pleasures.

First, we pan-fried the chicken breasts in the oil and butter (butter...mmmm), then removed them after they turned a nice golden color.

I forgot to take a picture of the onions and garlic sauteing (I blame the wine for my forgetfulness), but here you can see that we (and by we, I am referring to myself) forgot to quarter the tomatoes when creating the sauce, but I'm telling you, they came out soft and delicious regardless.

We placed everything in a baking dish and popped it in the oven for oh, about 15-20 minutes, for our 4 breasts of chicken. Then we pulled that sucker out and topped it with the chopped parsley. We skipped putting it all out on a chafer (I actually don't even know what that is) and just dug right into the baking dish. Oh, and it was perfect with the wine, in case you had any doubts.

This recipe was so easy to make, which is nice when you are cooking with someone else because it allows you to concentrate on conversation as well. That being said, I think there are a few things that could be done to spruce this recipe up, like adding a few more spices such as oregano, thyme, basil or even a summer savory.