Chicken with Tomato-Herb Pan Sauce

Inspired by a recipe found here.

Since Bryan and I got our own apartment in May of last year, we have been making new recipes each night for dinner. He cooks a few days out of the week and I do as well. We both enjoy cooking and eating food probably more than is appropriate. Because there's an exorbitant amount of recipes available, we thought it would be fun to never repeat a recipe for as long as we could go. Well, a year later, we still haven't repeated any recipes. Except this one. See, Bryan and I also don't share what recipes we're planning for the week. We food shop together and can only guess what the other is making based on the ingredients selected. It just happened that we both chose this recipe on the same week! It's not THAT surprising. This chicken went viral quicker than a Kardashian divorce. Rather than switching out for a different recipe, we decided we'd just eat it twice that week and see who cooks it better. I won (hurrah!).

It's a really simple, but impressive recipe. The herbed butter really makes all the difference in the cooking of the chicken and the flavors of the sauce. It balances the sweet tartness of the tomatoes and adds a creaminess to the tomato juices. And, I gotta say, whenever scraping of brown bits is involved in a recipe, I am immediately a fan. Nothing quite compares to charred bits of flavor being incorporated into another piece of the recipe. It's a great flavor continuity that I just get giddy about.

Chicken with Tomato Herb Pan Sauce

by Simply Shlee

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved (4 halves total)
• Salt and pepper
• ¾ cup flour
• 2 tbsp. butter, room temperature
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1½ tsp. fresh oregano, chopped
• ½ tsp. sweet paprika
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

Season chicken breast halves with salt and pepper. Dip in shallow dish of flour, shake off excess. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the butter, garlic, oregano, and paprika. Season with salt and pepper to taste. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 tbsp. of the butter mixture. Add the olive oil. Place the chicken breast halves in the skillet and cook until golden brown on each side and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Remove chicken from pan, transfer to a plate, and set aside.

Add the tomatoes to the skillet. Cook until the tomatoes begin to char and burst, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining butter mixture to the pan. Crush the tomatoes slightly with the back of a fork to release their juices and continue stirring until the butter is melted. Add the broth to the pan, scraping the bottom to loosen the browned bits. Cook for a minute more.

Transfer chicken to serving plates, top with sauce and garnish with parsley.

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