A Chicken Worth Pickin'?

Tonight's chicken special, mashed cauliflower, and asparagus.

I saw a recipe for Man-Pleasing Chicken last week. I wasn't sure how I felt about the name, but the recipe photos looked darn good. I thought I'd give it a try.

There are only five ingredients, if you don't count the salt and pepper, so you won't even need to hit the grocery store before you cook. I had all the ingredients, but forgot to pick some fresh rosemary from outside. Personally I missed it, as I have a love affair with rosemary, but the dish didn't. It held up just fine on it's own.

You'll need mustard, rice vinegar, pure maple syrup (don't use pancake syrup; it's mostly corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup -- there is zero maple syrup in it), and chicken. The recipe called for skinless chicken thighs, but I don't ever really eat chicken on the bone (unless it's fried, and at a fair), so I used boneless thin sliced chicken breast. I didn't have Dijon, so I used Kosciusko Spicy Brown Mustard, which made it less spicy (though I will be trying it with Dijon, after I go grocery shopping).

Here's everything you'll need to make this chicken.

I prepped it the night before, because I wanted to get to making it but already had other dinner plans. I mixed the sauce together and poured it all over the chicken, then put it into the fridge overnight, for a full 24 hours.

I cooked it for the recommended time, basting midway through, as suggested. It came out looking fabulous. It was well cooked, and still juicy. It tastes almost like barbeque sauce (that's the maple syrup), but also kind of like a hot dog (thanks to the spicy brown mustard). My fiancé and I both really enjoyed it; my 14 year old son was not as impressed. Then again, he's got a cold and was exhausted at dinner time... we will have to try again.

Cooked. A chicken worth pickin'.

I served this with my new favorite side, mashed cauliflower along with some asparagus, which was just perfect.


I've provided the link to the original recipe for you here, but have also typed it out (with my modifications) for you below. Enjoy.

A Chicken Worth Pickin'
Modified from the recipe, Man-Pleasing Chicken on wittyinthecity.com

1 1/2 lb. chicken breast
1/4 c pure maple syrup
1/3 c spicy brown mustard
1 T rice wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 450*F.

The original recipe calls for an 8 x 8 pan, but since I had boneless breasts, 1.5 lbs. worth of bird needed a bigger pan. So go ahead and use the pan that fits your chicken.

Blend the maple syrup, mustard, and rice wine vinegar into a sauce.

Line the pan with aluminum foil. (It makes clean up waaaay easier.) Pour a third of the sauce on the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

Salt and pepper the chicken pieces, then dredge through the sauce and place them in the foil lined pan. Pour remaining sauce all over the top of the chicken, coating well. Cook for the full 40 minutes at 450*, but take your chicken out of the oven after 20 minutes to spoon the sauce back over the top to keep it juicy and flavorful. 40 minutes seems like a lot for thin chicken breasts but since there is so much sauce, the chicken stays tender and doesn't dry out. And then you can rest assured your chicken is cooked.