Balsamic Honey Glaze...

...wrote a song about it. Like to hear it? Here it goes.

Back in cooking mode, but single in NYC for the weekend. Takeout? A cheese pie from the corner pizza joint? Not on your life! I have to bring my A-game to the table from here on out. So it's practice, practice, practice. Down to the local butcher shop I go for some chicken breasts on the bone and a scavenger hunt through the cupboards.

Balsamic Honey Glazed Chicken - by Blog O. Food

3 chicken breasts, bone in 3 lemons, juiced 4 Tbsp olive oil Fresh herbs (tarragon and/or thyme) finely chopped ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar 2 Tbsp honey 1 Tbsp water 2 cloves garlic, chopped

I marinated my chicken breasts in the lemon juice, oil, herbs and some salt & pepper for a couple hours in the refrigerator.

Start your glaze. Combine the balsamic vinegar, honey, water and garlic in a small sauce pan, bring to a boil, then simmer to reduce by one half.

Meanwhile, grill your chicken 7-8 minutes per side. It's my untried theory suspicion that a boneless chicken breast is easy prey to drying out when grilling. I believe that keeping the bone in when cooking helps the meat retain a little more flavor and moisture. But what do I know? Anyway, my breasts got the indoor grilling treatment on my double-sided cast iron grill from Lodge*. If you live in an apartment, or don't have an outdoor grill, this one will be in heavy rotation in your kitchen. I leave mine out on the stovetop.  It's heavy duty, versatile and needs little care aside from a good scrubbing after each use. (No soap! That'll remove the coveted seasoning you're looking to achieve with cast iron. Just use a good nylon pad and some elbow grease.)

How about a side dish? I did a quasi-Mediterranean variation on my hurry-up-and-eat couscous.

1 medium yellow onion, chopped 2 Tbsp roasted red peppers, chopped 1½ tsp capers 6 oz black olives, sliced 2 scallions (green or spring onions), sliced 1 cup whole wheat couscous ½ cup whole wheat couscous ½ water or chicken stock Salt & black pepper

Couscous basics:

1-1 ratio of couscous to cooking liquid. 1 pat of butter (½ Tbsp) and a pinch of salt per ½ cup of couscous. Always bring liquid, butter and salt to a boil before adding couscous. Remove saucepan from heat once couscous is thoroughly stirred in. Allow to rest, covered, for 5 minutes, and always fluff with a fork before serving.

In a small sauté pan over medium heat, sweat the onions with some salt and freshly ground black pepper in hot olive oil until the onions become translucent. Add the red peppers and cook to heat through, about 2 minutes. Add the capers and heat through. Finally toss in the olives, cover, and keep warm over low heat until the couscous is done. Add the cooked medley and the sliced scallions to the couscous, toss ingredients to combine and serve immediately.

Not bad, BOF, not bad. The sweet and tangy glaze had a gentle garlic kick. It clung to my sliced chicken breast splendidly and brought the white meat to life. The breast itself was moist and tender. Maybe I do know what I'm talking about! I'll be using the Lone Ranger as my laboratory rat with this recipe. Try it out on a loved one of your own tonight!

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food

*BOF receives no financial remuneration when endorsing products.