Friday, March 23, 2012

Getting to the Greek.

While browsing at Amazon.com, I found that they were having a clearance sale on many cookbooks.   I had already decided that I needed to expand my knowledge base on certain cuisines, namely Thai, Indian and Mediterranean, so this was perfect.  I read reviews on many books and finally chose three which arrived on Wednesday of this week.

My first attempt is a dish I have renamed "Greek Chicken" or more commonly known as Lemon Garlic Chicken.  Why the name change?  Basically I changed a few aspects of the recipe, making it my own of course, and the name seemed to fit the concept better.  In the book, a Greek salad was used as a side course; I took out the lettuce component and ...well you see.

In case you don't know what it means to "butterfly", after cutting the chicken into two sections, turn each piece "skin side" down. Lightly run a sharp knife through the thickest part, but be careful not to cut all the way through. Carefully open it up, so it becomes thinner, larger piece of chicken.

For the tomatoes, make sure they are firm and meaty; a tomato with a lot of pulp just won't go very well with the dish.


Greek Chicken

Ingredients:


4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp each crushed dried oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme and marjoram
3 Tbsp lemon juice

Garnishes:

2 firm, large sized tomatoes, cut each into 10 wedges
4 Tbsp sliced black olives
4 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese

Preparation:

Trim fat off chicken, cut each piece in half (shortways) and butterfly open. Place in plastic resealable bag, add olive oil, herbs and lemon juice; move chicken around to thoroughly coat. Place bag in refrigerator for 8 hours.

When ready to cook, heat a large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat; place chicken in skillet and cook each side for 7-9 minutes. Chicken will caramelize and juices will run clear.

Plate two pieces of chicken; place four wedges of tomato around chicken and one in center, scatter one tablespoon each of olives and cheese over chicken and tomatoes.

Makes 4 servings.

Mary Cokenour