10 October 2010

Honey Chicken with Butternut Squash with Dried Cranberry and Pecan Rice Dressing

Honey Chicken with Butternut Squash

To all my Canadian friends I hope you have survived Thanksgiving with your belt buckles intact and retained the warm glow that comes from being thankful for all that we have...family, friends and a table groaning with awe inspiring dishes.

But what if you have fewer guests and you want to go hiking instead of spending all day in the kitchen? Well, the answer is here. Of course you can have this dish anytime since it is quick to prepare and bursting with fall flavours from the earthy taste of butternut squash and sage to the sweet tones of honey crusted chicken. Top it with crispy shallots and a side of wild rice and other aromatic rice with autumnal flavours and the sweet tang of apple and you have Thanksgiving on the "fly."

No crispy shallots in the photo since I  didn't take the time to stage them for the photo... which was done in a hurry of course since hiking was in the cards...and what is that ghostly figure on the plate.....spooky......just a play of light...or is it?


Honey Chicken with Butternut Squash**
recipe from Canadian Chef Anthony Sedlak

Honey Chicken

1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
4 whole chicken breast supreme

Butternut Squash

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into large chunks
3 tablespoons butter, divided
5 sage leaves
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper

Crispy Shallots

3 cups vegetable oil
3 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Dried Cranberry and Pecan Rice Dressing


1 (14-1/2 ounce) can chicken broth
1 (7 ounce)  aromatic rice or combination of any wild rices
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
2 cups chopped onion
1-1/2 cups chopped celery
1 tart apple, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage leaves, or 1/4 teaspoon dried
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
3/4 cup coarsely broken toasted pecans
3/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped parsley


To make Honey Chicken: Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a small saucepan set over medium heat, simmer white wine and honey until liquid has reduced by a third. Add rosemary and pepper. Remove glaze from heat and set aside for basting.

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

In a large sauté pan, set over medium high heat, sear chicken breast, skin side down. Cook chicken breasts for 5-6 minutes, or until the fat has rendered, and the skin is golden and crispy. Remove from heat and let cool 2 minutes. Flip chicken.

Add butter to pan with chicken and place in preheated oven. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through, basting with prepared glaze halfway through.

Butternut Squash: Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a medium skillet, heat olive oil. Add butternut squash and cook 3-4 minutes, or until lightly coloured.

Add 2 tbsp butter and cook another 3-4 minutes to allow squash to brown slightly.

Place pan in preheated oven and roast squash for 25-30 minutes, or until tender. Remove from oven and transfer squash to a bowl.

Add remaining 1 tbsp butter, sage, garlic, and lemon juice to hot skillet and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or until butter is foaming and sage is crackling.

Add butter mixture to butternut squash and crush squash to allow flavours to come together.

Crispy Shallots:  In a large saucepan, heat oil to 350 F.

In a medium bowl, toss shallot rings lightly with cornstarch.

Add shallots to oil and cook until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes (they will continue to brown once removed from oil). While frying, be sure to move them around with a strainer/spider.

Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with salt.

Serve chicken over butternut squash and top with crispy shallots. Serve accompanied by Rice Dressing below.

Dried Cranberry and Pecan Rice Dressing: Bring chicken broth to a boil in a medium saucepan; add rice and return to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to simmer, and cook 20 to 25 minutes or until rice is tender and broth is absorbed. If your rice mixture includes wild rice it will need to be cooked longer. Cook according to package directions.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add liver and cook 1 minute, stirring often. Add onion, celery, apple, thyme, sage, salt and red pepper; cook 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring often. Stir in pecans, cranberries, parsley and warm rice and mix well.

 
You are reading this post on More Than Burnt Toast at http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author/owner of More Than Burnt Toast. All rights reserved by Valerie Harrison. Best Blogger Tips

34 comments:

  1. A very inspiring dish! So autumnal and appetizing.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. I'll be dreaming of this for the next day, as I am traveling and my food choices will be very limited. I haven't yet baked a butternut squash this season: I really like the way you prepared it in this recipe.

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  3. We stocked up on butternut squash (and others) at our last farmers' market of the season. This sounds like a good use of some of them.

    What is that ghostly figure? Eerie and appropriate!!

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  4. Man, if ONLY I could get my parents to go hiking on Thanksgiving! That would just about make my day. Maybe this year I'll get everyone to go for a midday walk. Compromise.

    This dinner sounds fantastic! I will definitely be making it in the next few weeks. It's seriously my kind of meal.

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  5. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This dinner sounds wonderful!

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  6. That chicken recipe looks both tasty and easy. I wouldn't mind a small T-day dinner with hiking on the side. I'll be spending it in the big city this year though.

    Hope all of my Canadian friends had a great T-day!

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  7. It's an alien!

    I love everything about this meal. So fallish. So easy! And so tasty, I bet.

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  8. Oh, wow, that rice dressing looks fantastic! I would be happy with just a plate of that for dinner. And I would love some butternut squash as well. And some chicken.

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  9. The chicken and the squash sound delicious, and so does that dressing. I definitely need to make that dressing- it has all the flavors I love, and it will go great with turkey too. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

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  10. Sometimes it's refreshing to see a different take, and Thanksgiving on the fly seems a great idea! Love the autumnal flavours in the dish Val, and would love to be at your table!

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  11. Your butternut squash is a great alternative to the tons of sweet potato we've been having lately.

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  12. There's so much great food at Thanksgiving, so to see a lot of those flavors and dishes coming together for the Canadian October celebration is great. Hope you enjoyed it all!

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  13. This meal looks so delicious. I'm ready to have my Thanksgiving feast a month early! :)

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  14. That does look like a spooky figure Val!
    Love this recipe - you always make the yummiest things!

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  15. Perfect holiday meal! I love everything! That simple and fast glaze is no work at all and brings simple chicken breasts up about six notches. Beautiful. Love the squash and the rice dishes. Oh this is a great collection of recipes.

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  16. A terrific Thanksgiving meal! I especially love the sound of dried cranberry and pecan rice dressing, yum!

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  17. This combination sounds delicious. :) I can't get enough of butternut squash this Autumn, so I will try to make this dish. Thanks for sharing!

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  18. i need to do more w butternut squash...must put it in pizza form or cupcake form. lol

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  19. Looks Delicious, love addition of pumpkin... that is one of not many reason I like autumn :)

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  20. I love this autumn-focused dish! Isn't it amazing how the addition of just a few ingredients can make an outstanding recipe! In the spirit of Thanksgiving, just want to let you know that I'm grateful for having found you and your blog.

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  21. This is so beautiful and seasonal! In fact I am working on a BN Sqauah lasagna for SS right now! GREG

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  22. This looks so healthy after eating turkey meals. Pumpking makes is so nice at this time of the year; love the flavour of honey chicken.
    Rita

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  23. Gosh, Val, you have a ghost on your plate! Well, it's almost Halloween, so your camera is playing trick or treat with you. (I hope,anyway)

    Your dish is bursting fall flavors...my favorite time of year!

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  24. Now, this is hands down the kind of casual dish I'd really look forward to making. Got some chicken thighs and squash ready to be used very soon. Everything sounds so scrumptious Val ;o)

    Ciao for now,
    Claudia

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  25. This is beautiful Val... another friday's favorite for sure :-)

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  26. Wonderful flavour combinations - right up my street

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  27. ...or is it!? LOL! Ghosts of Thanksgivings past! This sounds amazing...perfectly delicious meal. Love it :D

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  28. We had a great sunny week-end and my two oldest came for the week-end. Love the meal you prepare Val :)

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  29. Beautiful meal...very intrigued by that dressing :)

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  30. This looks very delicious. You have such a lovely site here!
    Blessings~

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  31. I love the honey chicken..and Happy Belated Thanksgiving !!

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  32. The on-the-fly idea sounds so good to me. It has all the elements you think of when you want Thanksgiving dinner and not in excess.

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  33. What a gorgeous plate of food!
    I could eat that for breakfast! Yum!
    Best,
    gabriele

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  34. it looks really tempting, cant wait to try it, cheers from london

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Welcome to my home. Thank you for choosing to stay a while and for sharing our lives through food. I appreciate all your support, comments, suggestions, and daily encouragement.

Val

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