Mom's Balsamic Chicken


This past week was rather unpleasant and miserable, as I was preparing for my first chemistry midterm. *Blech*. I have to say, I love love love biology, but hate hate hate chemistry. I can’t give you a straight answer why, but I have several hypotheses. (I won’t bore you all with that nonsense though.)

To make myself feel better, I decided to try my hand at one of mom’s recipes: Balsamic Chicken. At home, mom makes this about once every other week, if not once a week. It’s really yummy and delicious, but more importantly, with my father’s unpredictable schedules (seeing patients/being in the operating room), this meal is super easy because he can easily heat it up later.

I needed comfort food, but didn’t have time to go home…so I guess I had to bring the comfort food home to me. The recipe was easy to make and super delicious, but as cliché as this sounds, it just wasn’t as good as moms. I don’t know why, but it didn’t taste quite the same. It was delicious and I enjoyed my version of balsamic chicken…but it just wasn’t mom’s!

Mom’s Balsamic Chicken:
(I should say, I modified her recipe a teeny bit)
-       1 lb chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
-       1 red pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
-       yellow pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
-       orange pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
-       1 onion, sliced
-       1 package of baby portabella mushrooms, cut into bite sized pieces
-       1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
-       fresh rosemary
-       all purpose flour
-       salt & pepper, to taste
-       olive oil
-       balsamic vinegar
-       honey
Directions:
1.     Use PAM (or some cooking spray) to spray a 8x8 cooking pan. Preheat oven to 450F.

2.     Prepare the vegetables and place in a large bowl. Mix in enough balsamic vinegar and olive oil to coat all of the vegetables. Place in a prepared baking dish.
3.     Chop up a handful of fresh rosemary. Sprinkle rosemary onto the vegetables.
4.     Prepare the chicken thighs by cutting into bite sized pieces. Cover with flour, salt, pepper, and other seasonings, if you want.
5.     Heat olive oil in a pan and brown the meat. Once the chicken is cooked, add to the vegetables.
6.     Drain most of the liquid from the canned tomatoes, then add the tomatoes to the pan.
7.     In a measuring cup, mix a tablespoon or two of honey, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Drizzle on top of the dish.

8.     Place the balsamic chicken into the oven and let cook for about 45 minutes. After about 30 minutes, I’d check in, just to make sure something is burning. If your chicken is burning, cover the dish with aluminum foil.
And voila! I also boiled some pasta that I had in the pantry and served the balsamic chicken on top.

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