Buttermilk-Chive Chicken Breasts

Now that I have essentially all of the buttermilk in the world at my fingertips, it makes sense to marinate some chicken in it.

Buttermilk-Chive Chicken Breasts
from Cooking Club of America
click to print

CHICKEN
1 c buttermilk
1/2 c plus 1 tbsp chopped fresh chives, divided
1 large garlic clove
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

SAUCE
1/3 c mayonnaise
1/4 c buttermilk
3 tbsp chopped fresh chives
Dash salt
Dash pepper

Combine buttermilk, 1/2 cup of the chives, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 10" pie plate.


Add chicken to buttermilk mixture, turning to coat.


Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight, turning chicken occasionally.


Combine sauce ingredients in blender; blend until almost smooth.
  

Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Pat chicken dry.


Heat large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add oil; heat until hot.


Add chicken; cook 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown and no longer pink in center, turning once and reducing heat to medium if cooking too fast.


Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon chives; serve with sauce.

4 servings


The thick part of the breasts weren't cooked through while the tapered ends were overdone. I should've turned the heat down since they, apparently, did cook too fast. I wound up putting the breasts in a 350°F until they were just done. Maybe I should've butterflied them. They were really thick.

It seemed like a waste not to do something with the fond left in the pan. But I suppose if you did that, it'd negate the need for sauce.

Not that the sauce was at all necessary. The breasts (at least the parts that weren't dried out from cooking) were very nicely flavored. I actually liked the very slightly tangy aspect with the very subtle chive action. This is the kind of recipe you want to do when you plan on using the rest of the chicken meat in another dish. It's subtly flavored so you can still mess around with the leftovers with quite a bit of flexibility.

Cost:

• buttermilk: $0.45 
• fresh chives: $0.65
• garlic clove: $0.08
• boneless skinless chicken breast halves: $5.40
• extra-virgin olive oil: $0.18
• mayonnaise: $0.41

Total: $7.17 or about $1.79 for each of four servings.

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