Baked Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar, Vegetables, and Honey

Baked Balsamic Chicken with Vegetables and Honey

So we have these old Fine Cooking magazines. We've had them for ten years now (scary thought), and we have been making this recipe for ten years now too. This is because this baked chicken concoction is incredibly easy, delicious, and attractive looking. And best of all? Smack yo' mama easy. Not that I am advocating the smacking of mama's. Anyway.


Ingredients

* 4 chicken breasts
* 1 medium red bell pepper, cored,seeded and cut into strips
* 1 medium yellow bell pepper, prepared as above
* 1/2 lb fresh mushroom, cleaned and cut into quarters
* 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes, San Marzano's if you're not a heathen. I like a combination of diced and fresh if they are in season and do not taste like nightmares.
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (Thyme is good too)
* 1 teaspoon salt
* fresh ground black pepper
* 1 1/2 tablespoons honey

Directions

Heat the oven to 425 degrees, then dig out a fairly large, shallow baking pan. Mix together all the ingredients: chopped mushrooms, red and yellow peppers, olive oil, balsamic, fresh herbs, salt. The entire shebang.


Grab your voluptuous chicken breasts, thighs, or whatever bird party you prefer, then dredge them in the mixture. Get them in there good, and cover them with delicious juices. This will pay off nicely. Nestle the chicken in the vegetables, but for God's sake, don't bury them. The universe will explode immediately if you bury them. Don't even think about it.



Salt and pepper the casserole to the extent that you prefer. Then comes the fun part: drizzling on some delicious, golden honey. Put on as much or as little as you prefer, since you, my protege, are in the drivers seat. This will create a delightfully rich exterior to the vegetables and the meat.



Bake that sucker for about 50 to 60 minutes. I wouldn't advise stirring: you want some delicious crusty bits up top.



Serve with a nice seasonal vegetable dish. I made my beloved artichokes n' fresh shelled peas because you can't beat it in the summertime, but this chicken makes a fantastic winter dish as well. Make a salad with some balsamic, and get some crusty artisan bread if you're so inclined. I roasted some fresh figs in the oven to toss in the salad. Love me some roasted figs.

I love easy chicken casseroles. Recipes like this should render those faceless masses who claim Cooking Is Too Hard speechless and silent. Step away from the Hamburger Helper, America. Step away!

Jerk chicken, mm mmm

Jerk chicken is one of the best summer dishes I can imagine. More interesting then plain ol' BBQ chicken (and easier to execute right if you don't wanna fire up the smoker,) it's got a distinctive smoky and spicy flavor that pairs perfectly with summer side dishes and hot-ass weather. This recipe from Laurent Tourondel in Food and Wine is pretty reliable.

Ingredients
8 scallions, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
3 Scotch bonnet chiles, chopped (I used jalapenos).
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons chopped thyme
2 tablespoons ground allspice
Salt
1 1/4 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Three 4-pound chickens, each cut into 8 pieces (I used one chicken).
Freshly ground pepper




Take all these ingredients, cut them up, and put them in a food processor. You want it to be a paste, but not a soup. Once that's done, put the chicken pieces in a big old plastic bag, put in the marinade, and let it rest in the fridge. A day's marinating is best, but 10 hours or so (as I did) will produce tasty results.

Now, get yourself a grill (or a grill pan, I won't judge you). We did it with charcoal and it tasted just plain delicious. Grill the chicken over moderate heat until the skin is charred and the chicken cooked through and juicy. Bam. You're done.



I served this with some roasted and various squashes (and I do like saying Various Squashes). I tossed them with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme, as well as some red onion, then roasted them for around 15 minutes or until everything was tender and ever so slightly burny.



We also had fresh corn salad with cumin-lime dressing, diced avocado, and tomato slices. I love summer salads like this: I'm always waiting with bated breath until the fresh corn comes in. Probably gotta get out more.

That's all for now...more recipes coming up!

- Faine