Almond-Thyme Crusted Chicken with Maple-Balsamic Glaze, Pecorino Polenta and Garlicky Kale

Posted by Rachel

September 28, 2008

I blame Charlie Trotter for this one. Not that he actually created this recipe, but if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have come up with it.

See, because I cook dinner for someone else at least five nights a week, I usually slack in the area of making nice dinners for Luke and I. We’ve got a system down that at least allows us to have homemade lunches and dinners almost everyday, but it doesn’t really allow for fancy stuff.

On Saturday, we usually go the the Farmer’s Market or Boggy Creek Farm to get our chicken, bison, local goat yogurt and produce for the week. Then, on Sunday I go to the grocery to pick up everything I couldn’t find at the markets. For the next several hours, I make huge batches of food, so that, hopefully, I won’t have to do anymore cooking for us for the rest of the week. It’s a great system that still allows us to eat super healthy, but everything is fairly simple and definitely not an impressive showing of what my $40,000 culinary education has taught me.

However, today, on one of our very regular stops by Half Price Books, I found a Charlie Trotter cookbook that was not already part of my collection. For those of you who don’t know, I LOVE Charlie Trotter. He is the man I look up to for all things culinary, and my constant inspiration to strive to be a better chef than I think I can be. Just to let you in on how much I love him, I told Luke that if he ever proposes to me, the perfect way to do it would be over a meal at Trotter’s. Of course, a random trip to Chicago with reservations at my culinary icon’s restaurant might tip me off to the possible proposal plans, but I digress…

After purchasing the book and heading home, giggling like a toddler the whole way, I spent the rest of the afternoon drooling, page by page, over “The Kitchen Sessions”. By the time I finished scrolling through every single salivary gland-activating page, it was time to make dinner. I was so inspired to make something special for us, but didn’t want to just copy a recipe out of the book. I wanted to be like Charlie and create a new piece of culinary art that was a complete original, all mine. And, of course, I wanted to make something that completely avoided all of my allergens and didn’t take forever to put together.

So, I scoured the kitchen and came up with all the fixin’s for this delightfully simple, yet elegant meal. The flavors and textures went together so well. It was smooth yet crunchy, sweet yet tangy and just a bit salty. And, it made me feel so good to finally feed my boyfriend a nice meal instead of just showing him the pictures of the fancy stuff I made for someone else.

So, Thank you, Mr. Trotter, for yet another boost of inspiration and a wonderful meal.

ALMOND-THYME CRUSTED CHICKEN WITH MAPLE-BALSAMIC GLAZE, PECORINO POLENTA AND GARLICKY KALE
serves two

This meal came together in less than 30 minutes, so if you have any last minute guests coming over, this is good one to whip up.

For the Chicken:
1 large or 2 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup almond meal or ground almonds
1 tsp. minced fresh thyme leaves
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Olive oil spray

For the Maple-Balsamic Glaze:
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. maple syrup

For the Polenta:
1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1/2 cup filtered water
1/2 cup polenta, aka corn grits
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
freshly ground pepper, to taste

For the Kale:
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 bunch red kale leaves, washed and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced or 1/8 tsp. granulated garlic
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. For the chicken: On a plate, combine the almond meal and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the almond meal mixture and press the mixture into the chicken to coat it well. Spray a saute pan with olive oil spray and place the pan over high heat. When the pan is hot, sear the chicken on both sides until they are both nicely browned. Transfer the chicken to a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until it is cooked through. Once it is removed from the oven, allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before thinly slicing it.

2. For the Glaze: While the chicken in cooking, combine the balsamic and maple syrup in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce the liquid down until it is just a few tablespoons of syrupy goodness, 5-8 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

3. For the Polenta: Combine the chicken stock and water in a smallish saucepan. Bring to a boil and slowly whisk in the polenta. Be sure to pour the polenta in a slow, steady stream and whisk constantly to avoid clumping. Lower the heat to medium low and continue whisking until the polenta is thick and creamy. Remove from the heat, stir in the Pecorino, and cover.

4. For the Kale: Heat the oil over medium high heat in either a large saute pan that has a lid or a medium saucepan that has a lid. (Make sure that the kale is still a bit wet from washing. This will allow it to kind of steam itself once the lid is put on.) Add the kale, garlic, salt, and pepper to the pan and cover it. Open it after about a minute to stir it around. Cook for another 2-3 minutes and turn off the heat. The kale should still be bright green but just wilted.

5. To assemble on Individual Plates: In the middle of the plate, scoop a small amount of polenta. Top the polenta with half of the kale. Place sliced chicken on the kale and drizzle it with the Maple-Balsamic Glaze. Get fancy and spoon the rest of the glaze around the perimeter of the food. Savor it outdoors with someone you love and either a glass of Pellegrino or crisp Pinot Grigio.