Brown Butter, Part I

This embarrassingly simple recipe does in a pinch for dinner, especially when you want something easy and uncomplicated, yet good enough to impress a boy (or a girl)! I used to consider butter cheating… but have you ever tasted this stuff? IT’S AWESOME

Chicken breasts in sage brown butter (with polenta!)

Serves 2 to a great degree of satisfaction, possibly up to 4 if you added another vegetable (honey roasted carrots would do well!)

• 1/2 stick of butter, plus another 1/2 stick on reserve
• 1 package of fresh sage (or about 20 largish leaves)
• 2 boneless, (but optionally skinful) chicken breasts, butterflied (bisected through the xy-plane)
• salt, cracked black pepper
• 1 box instant polenta, prepared according to box directions

Pat the chicken dry and rub in salt and black pepper. Melt half a stick of butter on medium-high heat in a large skillet, and let it brown (but be careful not to let it burn or foam up too much). It will develop a brownish color and a nutty aroma (and flavor). Drop in the sage leaves and stir for about 5 minutes, or until deliciously fragrant of sage. Move the leaves to the sides of the pan, and place the chicken breasts in the pan (with skin down first if using skin). Brown the chicken (about 7-10 minutes on each side) until done, making sure that the sage remains moist and covered with butter the entire time, adding more butter to the pan if necessary (it was for me, but who knows, you might get lucky!).

Remove the cooked chicken breasts and cover with a towel to keep them warm and reserve about 1/4 cup of the juice/fat/butter for serving. Adjust the heat to high, until butter smokes and foams a little. Add the instant polenta to the pan (I had some leftover; judge for yourself how sagey you would like the polenta), and let it brown and crisp on the outside, stirring to mix in the butter mixture. Salt to taste. Serve the chicken breasts over the polenta, and pour the reserved juices over top.

Last step: EAT IT :v … preferably with a nice Italian red.