Sweet Onion Roast Chicken

Hopefully this is the first of many recipe posts that I will be writing.  My goal isn't to be like some of the phenomenal food bloggers out there who stage their photos; just to share some simple pictures to make your mouth water and the recipe to go along with it.

Most people who I've cooked for love what I make and anyone who knows me will tell you that it's pretty rare for me to have a recipe.  I like to use what I have on hand and taste as I go.  That's how I teach Alyssa too.  However, I am finding that more and more people ask me for recipes and I thought this would be a great experiment for me - creating recipes and sharing them for anyone who may want to try them.  As I go along you are likely to hear a lot about my favorite Pampered Chef products too.  For more information about them, feel free to contact me!!  I hope you enjoy!!

Start with bone-in split Chicken Breasts.  Season liberally with Coarse Kosher Sale, McCormick Garlic and Herb Grill Mates Seasoning and Pampered Chef Fennel and Herb Seasoning.

Heat an oven-safe pan with a lid (I am using The Pampered Chef Covered Roaster) and add Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Once the oil is hot, place the chicken skin side down in the oil and sear for 5-6 minutes until the skin is caramelized and crispy.  Then turn the pieces over.

Add sliced onions to the pan (no need to add any more oil at this point.  The chicken skin should have rendered out some of the fat leaving enough behind to saute the onion.)  Saute the onions for 2 minutes, just to soften slightly.  Most of the cooking will happen in the oven.  Deglaze (definition - using a liquid, generally wine, to pick up the little meat sediments from the bottom of a pan in order to make a sauce or gravy)  the pan with 1/4 cup of white wine.  I chose a sweet chardonnay.  Remember that the flavor of wine concentrates while it cooks down so be sure to choose a wine that you like.  Also, do NOT use a "cooking wine" as it is loaded with sodium.  If you don't keep wine in your house (even for cooking purposes, which I highly recommend - it does not have to be expensive) you could do this with chicken stock instead.   

Add Cracked Garlic Cloves (use your chef's knife's flat side and smack the peeled clove and it will crack.  This will help impart a better flavor.  Plus keeping them essentially whole will make them easy to pick out for people who don't want to eat it.)  Add 1 cup of water.   Put the lid on and place in a 375° oven.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes before removing lid and baking for another 15 minutes.  Pull when the internal temperature at the thickest part of the breast is 165° or the juices run clear when pricked.

Notice how the juices in the pan have darkened and the onions have shrunk down to nearly nothing.  I have never made this before and was making it up as I went along.  I only used half of a medium sweet onion, next time I will use (and the recipe below reflects it) at least a whole large sweet onion.  Brian and I don't generally eat onions, but these were crazy sweet.  I went back to the pan to just pick them out and eat them.  So good!!!

                                    

 

Paired beautifully with some simple steamed green beans (in the Pampered Chef Microsteamer) and Roasted Red Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic Herb Seasoning (on the Pampered Chef Bar Pan).

Sweet Onion Roast Chicken

2 Split Skin On Chicken Breasts

1 Tbsp McCormick Garlic and Herb Grill Seasoning

1 Tbsp The Pampered Chef Fennel and Herb Seasoning

1 1/2 tsp Salt

1 Tbsp of Olive Oil (if you are NOT using a non-stick pan, you may need more)

1/4 C White Wine

1 Large Vidalia Onion, sliced Thin

8 Cloves Garlic, cracked

1 C water 

1.  Season skin side of chicken.

2.  Heat oil and add chicken skin side down.  Cook for 5-6 minutes to caramelize.

3.  Flip chicken over and add sliced onions and cook for 2 minutes, just to soften slightly

4.  Deglaze pan with wine and let cook down for 2 minutes.  Add cracked Garlic Cloves and water.  Cover.

5.  Place in 375° oven for ~30 minutes.  Remove lid and bake another 15 minutes or until the temp reaches 165°

Spoon au jus (the pan drippings) over the chicken when serving.  (Also fantastic on the green beans.  In fact, next time I would toss the green beans in the au jus).