RECIPE: Chicken Breasts in Garlic Honey Lemon Brine

I developed this recipe to serve with Asparagus and Saffron Risotto, but it's good with Greens and Beans, too!  The chicken is so tender we could cut it with a spoon.  It was dead easy, too.  

Chicken Breasts in Garlic Honey Lemon Brine

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound of skinless-boneless chicken breasts
• 2 T. himalayan pink salt 
• 2 cups of water 
• 1/2 t. whole peppercorns or 1/4 t. coarsely ground
  
• 6 small cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 2 T. honey.
• 2 T. ghee, melted

INSTRUCTIONS:

If the breasts are very large, cut the thickest part in half horizontally so that all pieces are the same thickness.  Slice them all into 1/2" pieces across the grain.  If they're present, leave the tenders whole but remove the white tendon that runs down the center.  

Combine the salt, pepper, water, garlic, lemon juice, and honey in a glass container large enough to hold the water and the chicken. Mix well to dissolve the salt and honey.  Toss chicken into the mixture and let it marinate for 4 hours at room temperature (or, overnight in the fridge).

Two huge chicken breasts, halved horizontally, then sliced against the grain; tenders left whole.

As you can see in the photo above, when I clean chicken I lay down a sheet of plastic wrap (you can see it crumpled on the left), cover that with a sheet of parchment, and then clean the chicken on the parchment.  Whatever I remove - tendons, gristly bits, etc... - goes into a small container for the dog (you can see that at the top center).  When I'm done, I wrap the parchment in the saran and dispose of the bundle.  This prevents me from having to sanitize the cutting board. While I am confident that our farmer's chicken is salmonella-free, I am not confident that their butcher is, so I take precautions.

When you're ready to cook the chicken, pour the contents of the container into a sieve and allow the marinade to completely drain away.  Transfer the chicken to a dishcloth or paper towels and dry thoroughly, leaving behind as much garlic as possible.   

At this point you can either saute it in the ghee, on medium heat, until it's cooked through, about 7 minutes per side.  OR, you can toss the chicken with the melted ghee and roast it in a shallow pan at 425F for 15 minutes.