Roasted Chicken Breasts with Roasted Acorn Squash, Braised Pears and a Pear Cider Reduction
Anders Krusberg/Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
- Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 2cups pear cider or pressed pear juice (if unavailable, apple cider may be substituted)
- 2cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
- 1stick cinnamon
- 4whole cloves
- 4whole peppercorns
- 2/3cup sliced shallots
- 4-- 8-oz chicken breasts, skin on, bone-in and frenched*
- 1teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1teaspoon olive oil
Instructions
- In a 2-quart sauce pot combine the pear cider, chicken stock, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns and shallots. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat so that the liquid just simmers. Continue to cook until you have reduced the mixture to 1 cup, 35 to 40 minutes. Have a liquid measure nearby so that you can check the volume as necessary. Set sauce aside to cool a few minutes, then strain through a fine mesh sieve. Reserve the sauce. Discard the solids.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Season the chicken breasts on both sides with the salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the breasts, skin-side down, and cook for 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, turn the chicken over and cook for 4 minutes longer. Transfer the chicken breasts to the oven and cook for another 10 to 12 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F on an instant read thermometer. Remove the chicken from the oven and transfer to a serving platter.
- Drain any remaining fat in the hot pan, then return the pan to the stove over medium-high heat. Add the sauce to the pan and reduce it by half, about 4 minutes, or until syrupy. Remove from the heat.
- Either serve the breast whole or slice the breast diagonally into ¼-inch slices. Serve with the sauce spooned over the top.
RECIPE FOR ROASTED ACORN SQUASH AND BRAISED PEARS
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, copyright MSLO, Inc., all rights reserved
*“Frenched” refers to a technique where the meat is cut away from the end of a rib or bone, in this case the wing bone, leaving a portion of the bone exposed. If you are uncomfortable doing this yourself, ask your butcher to do so for you.
