Chicken Breasts roasted with honey, pine nuts, and thyme
(from ladydusk’s recipe box)
Source: Dispatch
Ingredients
- 3 T Honey
- 4-1/2 T Olive Oil
- 2 T Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
- 3/4 t Worcestershire Sauce
- 3/4 t Dried Thyme
- 3/4 t Dried Oregano
- 1/4 t Ground Mace
- 4-1/2 T Pine Nuts, somewhat finely chopped
- Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper
- 6 Split chicken breasts on the bone, each about 3/4 pound, excess skin removed (boneless skinless works too!)
- 1/2 C Dry Vermouth or Dry White Wine
Directions
-
Preheat oven to 400 degrees with the rack in the center.
-
x the honey, 3.5 T of the olive oil, the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, oregano, and mace in a medium bowl until smoothly combined. Stir in pine nuts and season to taste with salt and pepper.
-
Dry the chicken breasts with paper towels and season them generously with salt and pepper. Set a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat with the remaining 1 T Olive Oil. When it’s hot, brown the breasts in batches, skin side down, adding more oil if needed, until they are golden and the fat from the skin is rendered, 3-5 minutes per batch.
-
When all the breasts are browned, transfer them to the roasting pan, skin side up and coat each with the honey mixture, spreading it with the back of a spoon. Pour the vermouth (or wine) around the breasts and place the pan in the oven. Roast until the chicken is just cooked through, 15-18 minutes. If at any time the juices threaten to evaporate and burn, add a little more wine or water.
-
Transfer the chicken to a warm platter or plates. Set the pan directly over low heat (or transfer the juices to a small saucepan) and cook the juices down with any accumulated platter juices, stirring, until it becomes a light syrup. Season with more salt and pepper if you like, spoon the juices over the breasts, and serve hot.
-
(The sauce part at the end is really, really yummy …. not to be missed! It is a bit labor intensive, but very good!)