Roast Chicken Breasts With Chinese Butter Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• Black Bean Sauce: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Peel and cut shallot into ¼-inch slices. Add to a medium saucepan with 1 tablespoon oil. Sauté over low heat until shallot softens and becomes translucent, 2-3 minutes. Add white and Shaoxing wines, bring to a simmer, and reduce the liquids by about half, 6-8 minutes. Add fermented black beans, garlic cloves, and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and reduce the liquid by about half, 20-25 minutes. Meanwhile, start the Potato-Parsnip Mash.
• Potato-Parsnip Mash: Peel and dice the potatoes and parsnip into uniform 1-inch cubes. Place in a large saucepan. Add water and a few pinches of salt, then bring to a boil over high heat, 6-8 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, gently heat the heavy cream over low heat, then set aside.
• Chicken: Heat an ovenproof nonstick skillet over high heat. Season chicken breasts liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan and swirl around to coat the bottom. When oil is smoking, add breasts skin side down; cook until skin is golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Then flip the breasts so they're skin side up and place skillet in the oven until chicken cooks through, 8-10 minutes.
• Check potatoes and parsnips for doneness by removing one of each from the water with tongs; they should feel soft when gently squeezed. Drain well and place back into the pot; add the butter. Mash the potatoes and parsnips until they are coarsely crushed and coated with melted butter. Add about ¾ of the warmed cream and continue mashing until creamy; add more cream as needed. Season to taste with salt. Set aside.
• When the Black Bean Sauce has reduced to about half, strain it into a bowl. Reserve the garlic cloves and discard the rest of the solids. Place the garlic cloves and the sauce into a blender and purée, starting on low speed; if the sauce is very hot, remove the cap or stopper on top of the blender so steam can escape. Turn the speed to high until completely puréed, about 1 minute. Pour back into the saucepan and keep warm over low heat. (Makes 1 quart. Black Bean Sauce can be made ahead and refrigerated for 2-3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.)
• After chicken has been in the oven for 8-10 minutes, check for doneness. It should feel firm to the touch or register 160 F at its center. (Note: Safe internal temperature for cooked chicken is 165 F; however, chicken will continue cooking once it's out of the oven.) Remove chicken to a plate to rest. Chinese Butter Sauce: Place the skillet with drippings over low heat and add about 1 cup of Black Bean Sauce. Turn the heat to high and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the fond (the roasted bits stuck on the bottom of the pan). When the sauce has simmered and slightly reduced, taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Add 1 pat of butter; swirl the pan to melt and emulsify. Repeat with remaining 2 pats of butter; the sauce should be velvety smooth.
• Assembly: Place a large spoonful of Potato-Parsnip Mash on a plate. Nestle a chicken breast on top, and spoon plenty of Chinese Butter Sauce around the sides. (Avoid pouring sauce directly on the chicken skin, so it can remain crisp.) Finely slice the light green part of the scallion on a bias and scatter over chicken. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season lightly with salt and pepper. (The fish-sauce butter is plenty salty, so don't overdo the salt here.) Arrange the chicken skin-side up on a sheet pan and drizzle the oil over the chicken skin, coating it evenly. Roast until the chicken is light gold and the sheet pan is pooling with hot, rendered chicken fat, about 25 minutes.
• Take the sheet pan out of the oven, scatter the bread around the chicken and toss gently to coat in the chicken fat. Place the pan back in the oven and roast until the chicken is golden, crispy and sizzling (you'll hear it), about 15 minutes.
• While the chicken roasts, combine the brown sugar, fish sauce and lemon juice in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, occasionally swirling the pan or stirring the sauce with a wooden spoon, until bubbling vigorously and the mixture has reduced by about half, 2 to 3 minutes. This part is fun: Turn off the heat and add the butter, constantly swirling the pan or stirring with a wooden spoon, until all of the butter has melted and incorporated into the fish sauce mixture.
• To serve, scatter the cilantro all over the chicken and bread and spoon some of the fish-sauce butter over each chicken thigh, reserving some to add to each plate for dipping the chicken and croutons while eating (which is divine).

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425. Rinse the chicken well, then dry it with paper towel. Season the chicken aggressively with salt. Combine the remaining dry ingredients in a small bowl, and rub the mixture all over the skin of the chicken breasts.
• Heat the oil in a large, oven-safe sauté pan or skillet set over medium heat. When it is shimmering, put the breasts into the pan skin side down, and cook, unattended, until the skin is golden brown, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. Using tongs, turn the chicken breasts over, and place the pan in the oven. Roast until the chicken is golden brown all over and the meat cooked entirely through, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the chicken to a warmed platter, and allow to rest.
• Meanwhile, put the mint, parsley, garlic and serrano into a food processor, and pulse into a paste. Add the honey and mustard, and pulse again, until combined. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil until the mixture has become emulsified. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, and if necessary, whisk in a few tablespoons of water to thin the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Spoon some of the sauce over each chicken breast, and serve, with the remaining sauce on the side. Roasted potatoes with some thinly sliced lemons makes a fine accompaniment, along with sautéed greens.

Steps:

• For chicken, dissolve salt in 2 quarts cold tap water in a large bowl: submerge chicken in brine and refrigerate until fully seasoned, about 30 minutes.
• Rinse chicken pieces under running water and pat dry with paper towels.
• Season with pepper.
• Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450°F.
• Heat oil in heavy-bottomed 12-inch ovenproof Skillet over medium-high heat until begining to smoke; swirl skillet to coat with oil.
• Brown chicken skin-side down until deep golden, about 5 minutes; turn chicken pieces and brown until golden on second side, about 3 minutes longer.
• Turn chicken skin-side down and place in oven.
• Roast until juices run clear when chicken is cut with a paring knife, or thickest part registers 160°F on instant-read thermometer, 15 to 18 minutes.
• Transfer chicken to platter, and let rest while making sauce.
• SAUCE: using potholder to protect hands from hot skillet handle, pour off most of fat from skillet; add shallot, then set skillet over medium-high heat and cook, stirring frequently, until shallot is softened, about 1 1/2 minutes.
• Add chicken broth, vermouth, and sage; increase heat to high and simmer rapidly, scraping skillet bottom with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits, until slightly thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes.
• Pour accumulated chicken juices into skillet, reduce heat to medium, and whisk in butter 1 piece at a time; season to taste with salt and pepper and discard sage.
• Spoon sauce around chicken breast and serve immediatly.