Good Eats: Dijon Chicken

You know those recipes where you can't really decide if you love it or if it is just a complete shock to your tastebuds?

 

.............. This is one of those...............

In fact, after eating my second helping of this dish (which I paired with sautéed mushrooms that I would definitely recommend you do, as well)... I decided that for me, it was the competing tastes that compelled me to enjoy this dish.... Now J, on the other hand, loved it from first bite and asked that this recipe be added to our "staple collection".... (Our organizational system of recipe classification is an interesting one, to say the least.... more on that later).

I figured since he loved it enough for it to be in the category of our most frequently visited recipes, that it was worth sharing (and definitely worth cooking again in the near-ish future).

I originally found this recipe here and since it was called the "WORLD'S BEST CHICKEN" I decided, what the heck- I can always add more chicken recipes to our collection.  I noticed (too late) that this has a slow-cooker option (but only on low for 3-4 hours) so that may be a nice weekend alternative, but definitely not work-week suitable (since when was the last time any of us actually worked only 3 hours).....

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1/4 cup sugar-free maple syrup

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1Tbsp Rosemary (this is how much I used... but this is truly left up to you and your tastebuds)

Salt & Pepper, to taste (I used freshly cracked sea salt & pepper immediately before baking and didn't feel compelled to add any after cooking)

1 handful of shredded parmesan cheese

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the mustard, syrup, & vinegar.

3. Place chicken breasts in a greased casserole dish.  Season with a little salt and lots of pepper

4. Pour mustard/syrup/vinegar concoction over the chicken breasts. Make sure each is coated. (I spooned mine on and then spread it out so it would cover the edges---this seemed to work well)

5. Bake 30-40 minutes, drain extra sauce.

6. Sprinkle with Rosemary and parmesan cheese. Serve.

Now, honestly- I wish I would've paid more attention when I was making my sautéed mushrooms, but unfortunately it truthfully was me just adding "a little of this, a little more of this, and a lot of that" until I got the flavor I wanted.  Wish I would've written it down for myself since they were one of my favorites....but hey, at least I got to use up extra stuff in the fridge that was going bad (no wasting ingredients here!)

xoxo,