Rosemary Olive Chicken

Note: Don’t use aluminum cookware for this. The wine’s acidity may ruin your chicken and pan.
I also recommend using an oven-safe stainless steel frying pan/sauté pan with a lid. However, this is NOT essential. You can use a pyrex or stainless roasting pan for cooking and an stainless sauce pan for reducing the liquid. You will need a meat thermometer.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (If you like the skin, then you can leave it on.)

Olives – 6 per breast. Cut olives in half the long way. I use pitted Kalamatas because it is easy. Plus a few extra olives for the liquid.

Rosemary Sprigs – one per breast plus one for the liquid.

Olive oil.

White wine – A lighter, fruiter, and not too tart wine – Chardonnay or Sauterne perhaps

Chicken Stock – canned is fine. I like Maneshevitz Chicken Stock CONDENSED. Don’t dilute with water. One can is usually fine.

Other herbs that you might like – Thyme, oregano, sage, capers, sautéed garlic, whatever you like.

Tooth picks and foil if you pan does not have an oven safe lid.

Preheat oven to 350F. Rinse then lay the breasts with the smooth side up in the oven-safe pan. Pour the chicken stock over the breast until you have maybe 3/8” of liquid in the bottom of the pan. Then pour in the wine so that the liquid is maybe ¾” deep. The breast should be ½ submerged and ½ exposed. Arrange the cut olives (cut side down) on top of the breasts. Lay the rosemary sprigs on the breasts. Carefully pour a thin stream of olive oil over each breast. Drop some whole olives into the broth. Sprinkle whatever extra herbs that you like in the broth; if they are fresh sprigs, then submerge them in the broth. Grind some black pepper over the top. If your pan does not have an oven-safe lid, then cover it with foil. If you think the foil will touch the liquid, then insert the tooth pick into the breasts and use them as support columns for the foil lid. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Then remove from the oven, and remove the lid, foil, or toothpicks. Insert the meat thermometer into the largest breast and return to the oven leaving the thermometer in the meat. Bake probably another 25 minutes until the thermometer reads 180F.

Remove from oven. Remove the breasts, whole olives, and any herb sprigs from the pan. If are using an oven safe skillet, then place it on the stove top and reduce by boiling the liquid to maybe ¼ of its original volume. If you are using a flat roasting pan or pyrex, then transfer the liquid to a stainless sauce pan and reduce to ¼ of the volume. Then pour the liquid over the breasts and serve. Most of the flavor is contained in the liquid.

Serves: 6

Source: Extensively modified form Rosso and Lukins New Basic Cookbook - recipe that involved Chicken Tights. Plus Julia Childs’s advice on cooking with wine and chicken stock. “A white wine, not dry, but fruity. Perhaps a sauterne.”

Prepared by: Kelly for the November 2010 meeting and the January 2013 meeting.