Butter Sage Chicken

 

I love the smell of melted butter. It has such great associations, too. Melted butter on my mom's fresh flour tortillas, melted butter over pancakes, or on the side of a steaming plate of clams and lobster. The smell of melted butter means something great is about to be had.

I was having dinner a feast at a friend's place the other night, and she made some amazing dishes. Our main course being Butter Sage Chicken. Beautifully cooked, with lots of butter sage sauce; the smell of butter was intoxicating. Biting in to it, though, was almost like an entirely different dish. My taste buds were punched in their hypothetical faces by a very prominent lemon flavor. It was delicious. 

So, less than a week later, I find myself in the kitchen, with a pack of chicken breasts, ready to punch my taste buds again.

Lining up the ingredients. Each chicken piece gets a sprinkling of salt and pepper, and coated in flour.

Chicken pieces go into a pre-heated pan. Cooked on each side for about 5 to 6 minutes.

Cooked chicken is set aside to make way for the butter sage sauce.

Butter and herbs first, followed by onions, followed by lemon juice. Bring chicken back into the pan and coat the pieces in the sauce. Serve and enjoy!

Butter Sage Chicken
adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half width-wise
sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 medium-sized sweet onion, diced
2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1/2 a medium-large lemon)

Directions
Season each of the chicken breast pieces with salt and pepper. Set aside. Heat a large skillet, set at medium high, and prepare with cooking spray.

In a shallow dish/bowl, measure out the 1/2 cup of flour. One at a time, coat both sides of the chicken pieces.

Without overcrowding the pan, add a few pieces of chicken and cook for about 6 minutes per side, or until cooked through. When fully cooked, remove chicken from pan and rest on a plate. You may have to cook the chicken in batches.

When all the chicken is cooked, add the butter, sage, and thyme to the pan. Cook over medium heat until the herbs are fragrant and just as the butter begins to browns. Add diced onions and cook until edges brown. Combine with lemon juice and reincorporate the chicken pieces to bring them back to desired temperature.

Remove from heat, and serve with your favorite sides.