Chicken Bryan with Sundried Tomato and Basil Lemon Butter Sauce

Oh man, the story that goes along with the making of this dinner is funny in so many ways, I don't even know where to start. First off, a big old hefty pat on the back to me. This was the first time I have ever cooked with wine. Ben and I have been dying to go on a date night, but we keep waiting until the last minute to call babysitters and they are all booked. Our favorite place to go on date nights is Carrabba's to order their Steak or Chicken Bryan. I thought it would be a nice gesture to surprise Ben with homemade Chicken Bryan even if the kids were playing with their food, sticking their fingers up their noses and jibber jabbering on either side of us.

 

After researching a few recipes online, trying to create a version of my own, I noticed they all used dry white cooking wine. I made the mistake back in college of looking for actual powdered wine, thinking that's what "dry" wine meant. Yeah, the grocery employee that I stopped to ask where the "powdered wine" was got a great chuckle out of that one. So at least this time I knew I was looking for an actual liquid. Instead of looking next to the balsamic vinaigrettes, where apparently they keep cooking wines, I moseyed on down the alcohol isle of the grocery store with my two kids looking for "white wine". Apparently white wine is a genre of wine! Haha! Who knew?! A few guesses and a whole lot of confused looks later I ended up just grabbing a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. Later in the checkout line I couldn't figure out why the cashier had stopped ringing up my food and asked to see my ID. That's weird, I haven't even used my credit card yet. Why would she need my ID. "Ma'am, I need your ID to buy the alcohol." Ooohhhhh, that makes sense. Duh.

Fast forward to making the actual meal, and I am in the middle of creating my flavorful lemon butter sauce that will be the make it or break it item of the dish. I go to open the wine and lo and behold there's a cork in it! Didn't think about how I was going to get that off. Crap! So I jam my 10 inch blade cooking knife into the cork and twist thinking it will magically pop open. Nope, just mangled my cork. I yell to Ben to run over to our neighbors who we have barely met, since with just moved in, to see if they have a wine opener. Completely embarrassed, yet completely willing, Ben runs next door and pops open the wine himself, not wanting to admit to our neighbor that he has no clue how to pull a cork out. Good thing he got it on the first try. Yay Ben!

And then comes the end of the meal preparation. The dreaded time of the day where I have to pretend that I actually have any kind of photography skills. Seriously, I hate taking pictures. Not my gift, not my talent. In order to get a decent picture I have to take it as the sun is going down in natural light. I've discovered that the best angles are achieved from laying down on my stomach. Again, having just moved in and not really knowing our neighbors, I felt a little hesitant taking my dinner outside to lay down and take pictures of it. Sure enough and with my luck, our other neighbors were outside enjoying the cool weather. Not even two minutes into taking pictures and my neighbor yells over, "Hey, are you okay over there?!" I pop up and reassure him that I'm fine. "Oh good," he says. "I thought maybe you had passed out or died." And then I introduced myself. Yeah, that's an awkward first impression.

 

So there. That's it. That's the story of the Chicken Bryan. And you know what? I would do it all over again because this dish was for real out of this world. Holy bananas was it good. A simply seasoned and grilled chicken breast with warm goat cheese on top, drizzled with a sundried tomato and basil lemon butter sauce. It doesn't get much better than that. Oh wait, yes it does. Fresh and creamy mashed potatoes! I think so. And so we may not have had our anticipated date night, but we did end our evening with a delicious rendition of our favorite meal. Love you babe!

 

Chicken Bryan

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

4 ounces goat cheese

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup finely diced onion

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1/2 cup julienned sundried tomatoes (not oil packed)

3/4 cup white wine, or cooking wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

6-8 tablespoons cold butter

4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves divided

 

Directions:

1. Heat grill or stove. Trim fat off chicken breasts. Generously salt and pepper each side of the chicken breasts. Set aside.

 

2. Shape goat cheese into 1/2 ounce circular discs about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. You should be able to make 8 discs out of the 4 oz. (2 for each chicken breast)

 

3. Prepare for sauce by chopping onion, garlic and basil. Squeeze lemon juice and make sure you can open your wine. Haha!

 

4. Place chicken on grill or sauté pan and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side or until no longer pink in center. For a properly sautéed chicken breast follow the instructions here, omitting the making the sauce part.

 

5. While chicken is cooking begin making sauce by heating olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until translucent. Add in garlic and sundried tomatoes. Cook 2 minutes more.

 

6. Pour in wine, lemon juice and broth. Add salt and pepper. Stir until bubbly. Reduce liquid by half as you are stirring, 3-5 minutes.

 

7. Reduce heat to low. Add one tablespoon chilled butter at a time to sauce. Stir butter until completely melted before adding next tablespoon. You can add anywhere from 6-8 tablespoons depending on your taste. Add more broth if sauce is too thick. Stir in fresh basil.

 

8. Warm oven to 200 degrees. Arrange chicken breasts on a platter. Place two discs of goat cheese on top of each breast. Allow cheese to warm through. Spread sauce over all chicken breasts and serve warm.

 

Serves 4