Balsamic Chicken

Balsamic Chicken
[from Giada De Laurentiis]

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (4-pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces (giblets, neck and backbone reserved for another use)
• 1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

Whisk the vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper in small bowl to blend. Combine the vinaigrette and chicken pieces in a large resealable plastic bag; seal the bag and toss to coat. Refrigerate, turning the chicken pieces occasionally, for at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove chicken from the bag and arrange the chicken pieces on a large greased baking dish. Roast until the chicken is just cooked through, about 1 hour. If your chicken browns too quickly, cover it with foil for the remaining cooking time. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Place the baking dish on a burner over medium-low heat. Whisk the chicken broth into the pan drippings, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the baking sheet with a wooden spoon and mixing them into the broth and pan drippings. Drizzle the pan drippings over the chicken. Sprinkle the lemon zest and parsley over the chicken, and serve.

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So I've had this bookmarked for a while and I FINALLY had the time to make this recipe. The ONLY modification I used was using chicken breast instead of a whole chicken. And honestly, the flavors were very good, brought me back to working at Big Tomato and enjoying their own balsamic chicken. The only problem I had was the stupid chicken texture was horrible. I'm not buying perdue anymore... I think I've stated that fact before... it's terrible...

Caprese Chicken Rollatini

Caprese Chicken Rollatini

For the Chicken Rollatini:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp pesto sauce
• A few slices of Mozzarella cheese
• Balsamic Vinegar
• cooking twine.
  

Recipe for the tomato Bruschetta can be found here

Directions:

1. You need to pound the chicken to about 1/8-1/4 thickness. The best way to do this either a)wrap your butting board in plastic wrap. Place one chicken breast in the center. Cover the chicken with an additional piece. or B) place chicken in a gallon sized ziploc bag and zip up. To evenly pound the chicken, start from the center of the chicken and work your way out. Repeat for 2nd breast.*note- if you are using a ziploc bag this can be tricky when the chicken becomes too big for the bag.

2. Take the tbsp of pesto sauce and spread on the chicken.

3. Add a slice of the mozzarella cheese. If you are slicing cheese by hand, try to make it as thin as possible. Don't add too much or it becomes impossible to roll.

4. Tie with cooking twine.

Chicken should look like this. I added too much cheese so it was coming out.

5. Put both chicken breasts on a baking sheet lined with tin foil (I sprayed with Pam for good measure). In a 350 degree oven let the chicken cook for about 40-45 minutes.

6. When ready to serve garnish with Bruschetta and a drizzle of Balsamic vinegar.

Been playing with photoshop. Which image is more appealing to you?

OVERALL: For my first attempt in a while at making an original dish I was really happy with this one. Originally I wanted to add the tomato into the rollatini as well, but decided that I'm not a fan of warm tomatoes.

My chicken was not thin enough. I spent probably 30 minutes pounding chicken with a frying pan (I don't have a meat pounder) while my roommate was watching T.V. So I probably should have gone a bit longer on both. My other mistake was using fresh Buffalo mozzarella cheese. When I checked up on the chicken, most of the cheese had melted out because it's like 80% water. I would used a sturdier mozzarella for this or perhaps skips the cheese in the middle and add it ontop halfway through cooking.

Also, the bruschetta was very good! It will probably be my go to recipe.

I was very happy with this meal and I'll keep working on perfecting it.