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     Title: Crispy Smashed Chicken Breasts With Gin & Sage
Categories: Poultry, Herbs, Booze, Vegetables, Citrus
     Yield: 6 servings

    24    Sage leaves
     3 lg Skin-on chicken breasts
     6 cl Garlic; smashed, peeled
          Salt & ground black pepper
     3 tb Olive oil
     3 tb Butter; cold
   1/4 c  Gin
   3/4 c  Chicken stock
     2 tb Fresh lemon juice; + wedges
          - to serve

 Rinse the sage leaves and dry thoroughly with a towel. If the
 chicken breasts have the rib cage attached, remove it - and any
 other bones - with a sharp knife (or ask your butcher to do it for
 you). Don't trim off any skin or fat. Set each chicken breast skin
 side down on a cutting board and pound with a large meat mallet to
 even out the hump, flattening the chicken to an even thickness.

 Put the chicken in a large bowl or baking dish and add the garlic
 cloves, 12 sage leaves, 1/2 ts salt, and 1/2 ts pepper. Turn the
 chicken to coat evenly in the seasonings, then arrange the chicken
 skin side up on top of the garlic and sage in a single layer. Cover
 and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours.

 Heat the olive oil and 1 tb butter in a very large stainless steel
 saute pan over medium-low. When the butter melts, add remaining 12
 sage leaves and fry, turning and flipping them gently with a fork,
 until crisp, about 3 minutes. Remove the crispy sage to a plate.

 Turn the heat to medium and add the chicken, skin side down, along
 with its garlic and sage. Cook the chicken slowly but steadily,
 lowering the heat if the oil starts to smoke, until the skin crisps
 and turns a deep caramel color and the white sign of doneness
 creeps two-thirds of the way up the sides of the breasts, 25 to 30
 minutes. Be prepared to stay stoveside, pressing on the chicken
 with a spatula to force contact with the pan and moving the chicken
 when it releases naturally from the pan for even cooking. Remove
 any garlic cloves or sage leaves that threaten to burn and save
 them for the sauce.

 When the chicken skin has turned dark amber, flip the chicken,
 lower the heat to medium-low and cook gently until browned, 5 to 10
 minutes. Turn off the heat. The residual heat will continue to cook
 the chicken while you finish the sauce.

 Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and add the gin to the
 pan. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 seconds to burn
 off the sharpness, then add the chicken stock and cook, scraping at
 the browned residue on the bottom of the pan to loosen it, until
 the liquid has reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes. (You should have
 about 1/2 cup of sauce.) Add the lemon juice, any reserved garlic
 cloves and the remaining 2 tb cold butter. Remove from the heat and
 swirl the pan to emulsify the sauce; taste and adjust salt and
 pepper as needed.

 Move the chicken breasts to a cutting board and slice crosswise,
 taking care to cut neatly through the skin, then return to the
 platter. Pour the sauce around the perimeter of the platter - not
 over the chicken, which would dampen and soften the crispy skin -
 and top with the crispy sage leaves. Garnish with lemon wedges and
 serve immediately.

 Recipe from: Amy Thielen

 Adapted by: Eric Kim

 RECIPE FROM: https://cooking.nytimes.com

 Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives

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