I’ve been meaning to share this really simple recipe for some time now, but first I had to figure out the recipe. I’ve made this chicken a few times for company, and every time I get asked for the recipe. So I try to explain how I take a bit of this and a bit of that and do this with it… So this last time I wrote down as I went, but of course, I cannot find the scrap of paper that I wrote it down on. Nevertheless, I want to share it anyway. It’s too good to pass up, and while I’ve only used it on chicken breasts, I think it would be great on thighs as well, and possibly pork chops. You can also use this as a dump recipe- putting the chicken in the marinade and tossing it in the freezer. The chicken can be grilled, baked, or sauteed on the stove top once the marinade has had time to soak in.
Here is the cast of characters for this one:
Fresh basil, sea salt, fresh black pepper, red wine vinegar, olive oil, honey, and several cloves of garlic. I believe the measurements go something like this:
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
black pepper to taste
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
If anything, those measurements are a little shy- use more to taste as you tweak this to your own specifications. Put them all in a large bowl and give them a good whisk.
My mouth is watering just looking at that. It doesn’t look like a ton of marinade- but it’s more than enough for any quantity of chicken you have on hand. On this particular day, I was going to use 2 of those jumbo packs of chicken that you get as Sam’s Club. But first, because the breasts are so big, I decided to butterfly them. Butterflying has become my favorite thing to do with these large pieces of chicken. First of all, it makes one piece of breast a realistic portion, so you’re not overdoing it. Secondly, and maybe more importantly, it also roughs up one side of the chicken, and it seems to soak up the flavors of the marinade more readily. Butterflying is really easy when the chicken pieces are so large!
First set your breast on a cutting board and grab a nice, sharp knife. See how I have the knife positioned with the blade facing the largest end of the chicken? That’s where we’re going to start cutting. Just do your best guessing as to the midway point on that end of the chicken, and start carefully cutting and sliding your knife parallel to your cutting board.
These particular breasts get thinner as you move towards the pointy end. I just tried my very hardest to keep the knife at the same distance to the cutting board the whole time. I did have some breasts that did not cut quite as evenly, but for the most part, once I got into a rhythm it went quickly.
See? Two better-sized pieces of chicken. Now we’re going to take all these pieces and chuck them into our large bowl that’s holding the marinade. Use your hands to stir them up as you go- making sure each piece is coated with marinade. Remember when I said I was using two large packages? Yeah, that’s a lot of chicken.
Let them sit on the counter, in the marinade for 45 minutes. You can turn them a few times if you like. During that time you can get your grill ready for the chicken, your oven preheated and your baking sheets lightly oiled, or get your saute pan out and ready. On this particular day I took two baking sheets and lined them with heavy duty foil before brushing them very lightly with olive oil. The foil was purely for clean-up purposes later, as I knew I would have to do two batches. I baked them at 375ºF for 35 minutes, rotating my pans halfway through cooking. When the first batch was cooked, I removed the foil from the pans and repeated.
I did not get a finished picture this time, but the end result is a whole bunch of delicious chicken that can serve any purpose you want. You can eat it just as it is, served with some side dishes and a fork a knife. It also makes a spectacular addition to a salad or a wrap. We used some for sandwiches with some delicious rolls and cheeses one day, and honestly, there was one day I wasn’t really hungry for lunch, so I just grabbed a breast out of the fridge cold and ate it just like that. Fully cooked, these will store in a properly cold fridge for a week, giving you chicken on hand anytime you need some cooked chicken. Now that I’m thinking about it, we also used some of these on homemade pizzas- one was a chicken BBQ pizza, and another was a chicken-bacon-ranch kind of creation.
Economically, this makes excellent sense. When I shop at Sam’s Club right now I can get one package of these large chicken breasts for $1.88 a pound. (Around $10 a package, give or take.) A package usually has around 8 or 9 breasts in it. I butterfly them and instantly I’m up to 16-18 portions of chicken. So I cook the chicken and say we use 4 of them in salads for dinner. That leaves at least 12 more pieces to use in other ways. Even if only The Hubby uses them for sandwiches for lunch all week- that’s still a massive bargain. But I will use these once or twice more for dinners in various ways, and lunches once or twice as well. And if we get tired of chicken, back in the freezer they go to pull out another time.
With the grocery dollar shrinking from week to week, this recipe for easy chicken is a must-have.