Balsamic Browned Butter Sauce

I am truly, deeply in love with balsamic vinegar, I think. Lately my favorite thing to do is make a spinach salad with baby spinach leaves, pine nuts, EVOO, balsamic, and a hearty grind of black pepper.

Balsamic just has such a lovely taste. It's bitter and oh-so-good.

When I ran across this recipe, I knew I had to try it. I had everything in my pantry save for the mushroom agnolotti. I did, however, have a package of tri-color gnocchi. I threw this dinner together in about ten minutes and paired it with the aforementioned spinach salad. It was, at the risk of sounding ridiculous, sinfully good.

Balsamic Browned Butter Sauce
(via the lovely Eat Real)

* 1 package (9 ounces) ravioli
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
* 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
* Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
* 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted
* 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cook ravioli according to package directions; drain and keep warm.
2. While the ravioli are cooking, melt butter in a sauté pan large enough to accommodate the ravioli, over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the butter begins to turn golden brown, remove pan from heat and let sit for about 1 minute. Whisk in vinegar, salt, and red pepper flakes.
3. Place ravioli in butter sauce in pan, turning gently to coat. Warm over low heat, then pour out onto serving platter. Sprinkle with toasted walnuts and Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

It is worth noting that this reicpe is enough to serve two people. Or, in my case, one very hungry lady. :)

Adventures in Cooking - Glazed Chicken

It's about a week overdue, but I'm here to talk to you about honey glazed chicken. Aric and I had this with corn bread. I figured that with the amount of honey in this glaze, corn bread would be a nice match. And a nice match it was.

When I first read through the instructions, I was a little upset, because it said that I had to gaze the chicken every "five to seven" minutes while it baked. I thought to myself, man, that's too much work for tasty chicken! That and I don't have a basting brush.

Honestly, when chicken bakes for thirty, forty minutes at the most, it's not that big a deal. Also, I didn't need a basting brush. All I needed was a teaspoon, and it worked just fine.

HONEY GLAZED CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS
6 - 8 chicken tenderloins
1/2 cup honey
1 tbsp. cracked black pepper
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS
1) Preheat oven to 350.
2) Place chicken in the oven.
3) Mix glaze ingredients together. Note: the glaze should be slightly runny.
4) Glaze the chicken at five to seven minute intervals.
5) Bake chicken until cooked through completely - between 30 and 40 minutes.

HELPFUL HINTS
1) I used chicken breasts, since I didn't have tenderloins. I don't think it made much of a different - just increased the cooking time. And, as a side note, the original recipe didn't include a cooking time, it just said to cook until done. I estimate that I baked my chicken for about half an hour to forty minutes, tops.
2) I lined a baking pan with foil, then put the chicken down. There was a whole lot of liquid floating around in the pan, and it kind of grossed me out, so next time I think I'll line the pan with foil, but then find some sort of baking rack to put the chicken on, so the chicken isn't sitting in all that fat..
3) Do not taste the glaze when you initially mix it. It will taste terrible. I assure you, however, that it will taste amazing once the chicken is done.