Chicken and Olives

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Description

The sharp, briny bite of olives is the dominant flavors here, which is why it pairs so well with chicken breast. This is one of those dishes where, if you tasted the chicken and sauce separately, you probably wouldn’t be very impressed, but together they’re magic.

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless chicken breast halves with skin
  • salt and ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
  • 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ¼ cup sliced shallots
  • ½ cup pitted and sliced green olives
  • ½ cup brine-cured pitted olives, such as Kalamata, halved lengthwise and brine reserved
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into four pieces

Instructions

  1. Season skin-side of chicken with salt
  2. black pepper
  3. and cayenne pepper. Turn breasts over and season skinless side with salt
  4. black pepper
  5. cayenne
  6. and herbes de Provence. Turn again so that the skin-side is facing up; rest for 10 minutes.
  7. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Place chicken skin-side down in hot oil. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook chicken until skin is well-browned
  8. about 5 minutes. Turn chicken and cook until just browned
  9. about 2 minutes; transfer to a plate.
  10. Reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir shallots in the hot skillet until just softening and golden brown
  11. about 2 minutes. Stir olives into shallots and cook until fragrant
  12. about 30 seconds.
  13. Pour the chicken broth into the skillet; bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add lemon juice
  14. 2 tablespoons of the reserved olive brine
  15. lemon zest
  16. and cumin; increase heat to high and cook until sauce is reduced by half
  17. 2 to 3 minutes.
  18. Reduce heat to low and return chicken
  19. skin-side up
  20. to the skillet. Cover the skillet with a lid and cook until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear
  21. about 5 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Remove chicken to a plate and cover with aluminum foil.
  22. Stir parsley and butter into sauce
  23. stirring continuously until butter is melted and sauce is shiny. Spoon sauce over chicken.

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 45 mins

Servings: 4

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