Rosemary-Scented Chicken Breasts with Caramelized Orange Sauce

By vail28

Ingredients

• 4 * 4 boneless and skinless chicken breasts (organic if possible)
• * Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 * 2-inch branch of fresh rosemary
• 10 to 12 * 10 to 12 olives (oil cured, Sicilian, or Kalamata)
• 1 * 1 large blood orange, or navel orange, peeled and the flesh cut into small chunks
• 2 * 2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/4 to 3/4 * 1/4 to 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 * 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from webmail.earthlink.net

Preparation

Step 1

1. Lightly film a 12-inch straight-sided sauté pan with olive oil. Heat it over high heat until oil shimmers slightly. Slip the chicken breasts into the pan, sprinkling them with salt and pepper. Lightly brown them on both sides, taking only about 30 seconds per side.

2. Immediately reduce the heat to medium low, add the olives, rosemary, orange pulp, garlic and 1/4 cup of the orange juice. Make sure the liquid is barely bubbling.

3. Cover the pan and cook 3 minutes; turn the chicken, check the sauce for burning (add a few tablespoons of orange juice if needed), and cook another 4 minutes, or until the chicken is firm, but not springy, when pressed. Remove the chicken to a serving platter and keep it warm.

4. Make the sauce by adding another 1/4 to 1/3 cup orange juice to the pan and boiling it down to a syrup while you scrape up any brown bits and glaze from the bottom of the pan. A flat sided wooden spatula is invaluable for this. Swirl the butter into the pan just to blend it in. Scrape the caramelized syrup over the chicken and serve hot.

LYNNE'S TIPS

• There are two keys to moist and succulent chicken breasts: one is slow, gentle cooking to retain much of the natural moisture in the cells of the meat. You want to do a quick sear over high heat for a little browning, then gently cook the breasts over medium-low heat. The other trick is brining. Figure 45 minutes to two hours in the refrigerator in a brine of 1/4 cup kosher salt to 1 quart very cold water (a little sugar, chile and other flavorings could be added to the brine).

• Finishing simple pan sauces by swirling in a tablespoon or two of cold unsalted butter (remove the pan from the heat first) enriches the sauce, smoothes out any roughness and thickens the sauce slightly. Besides, that small amount of butter gives you incomparable flavor.