Chicken Breasts With Pears And Dried Figs Recipes

CITRUSY ROAST CHICKEN WITH PEARS AND FIGS

Steps:

• Peel 2 of the garlic cloves, and finely grate or mash to a paste. Grate 1 teaspoon zest from the orange (reserve zested orange and remaining garlic clove for serving).
• In a small bowl, combine garlic and zest with 1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary, salt and pepper.
• Place chicken on a 13-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet, and rub rosemary mixture all over chicken including underneath the skin and inside the cavity. Chill uncovered in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Stuff chicken with rosemary sprigs. Drizzle chicken lightly with oil, and roast for 30 minutes.
• Remove baking sheet from oven and carefully arrange pears and figs, cut-side down, on the hot pan. Continue to roast until chicken is cooked through, another 15 to 25 minutes.
• Transfer chicken to a cutting board to rest for 10 minutes before carving. Roast pears and figs another 5 to 10 minutes, if necessary, until they are caramelized and tender.
• Cut the white pith off the orange, then cut out orange segments into bite-size pieces. Finely grate or mash the remaining garlic clove.
• To serve, transfer figs, pears and chicken to a platter. In the pan with chicken juices, toss orange segments, remaining garlic clove, and a drizzle of sherry vinegar; taste and season with flaky sea salt, if needed. Spoon oranges and pan juices over chicken and fruit on platter, and top with chopped parsley and more flaky sea salt.

BALSAMIC CHICKEN & PEARS

Steps:

• Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook until a thermometer reads 165°, 8-10 minutes. Remove., Meanwhile, stir together next 5 ingredients until blended. Pour into skillet; add pears and dried cherries. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat and simmer, covered, until pears are tender, about 5 minutes. Return chicken to skillet; simmer, uncovered, until heated through, 3-5 minutes. If desired, sprinkle with additional minced rosemary.

CHICKEN WITH CARAMELIZED PEARS

Steps:

• Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, brown chicken in butter; remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, saute onion until tender. Add pears and brown sugar; cook 3 minutes longer. Stir in vinaigrette and thyme., Return chicken to skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 4-6 minutes or until chicken juices run clear. Meanwhile, cook rice according to package directions. Serve with chicken.

CHICKEN BREASTS WITH FETA AND FIGS

Steps:

• One at a time, place each chicken breast between pieces of plastic wrap or parchment and lightly pound with a mallet until it is 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Chicken breasts should be of uniform thickness.
• Place chicken breasts in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and toss with rosemary, garlic and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cover bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.
• Place oven on lowest setting, around 200 degrees. Cook the chicken: Heat a large cast-iron skillet or grill pan over high heat for 5 minutes. Add remaining olive oil to pan and reduce heat to medium-high. Turn over chicken breasts in marinade to coat them, then add them to the pan, rounded side down. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes on one side, until cooked halfway through.
• Turn chicken breasts over and carefully arrange feta on top, dividing it equally among the 4 breasts. Sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves over feta on each breast. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, until breasts are cooked through. Feta will warm but will not melt. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep in warm oven while you cook the figs.
• Add wine to pan and scrape with a wooden spoon to deglaze the bottom. Boil wine until it has reduced by half, then add figs, honey and remaining thyme. Cook, stirring, until figs break down and begin to look jammy, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Serve chicken breasts with fig compote on side and garnish with rosemary sprigs.

CHICKEN BREASTS WITH PEARS AND DRIED FIGS

Steps:

• *NOTE: If using feta, it is high in sodium, so you may want to adjust the amount of salt indicated in the recipe. Also, the directions did not say to peel the pears, but I did anyway.
• In a small bowl, mix together the cheese, fresh herb and garlic. Place 2 rounded tablespoons of the mixture onto the center of each pear half.
• In a blender or food processor, puree the chicken broth, figs, balsamic vinegar and sugar until smooth. (You may have to do this in batches.).
• Pour the chicken broth mixture into a strainer over a bowl. Using a spatula, press the liquid through the strainer into the bowl. Discard the solids.
• Pour HALF of the fig sauce into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Place the chicken breasts over the sauce in the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Now take a filled pear half and place cut side down (that means the filled half is placed cut side down) over each chicken breast. Drizzle with the remaining fig sauce.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Cover baking dish with foil and bake in oven for 20 minutes.
• Remove the foil and continue baking, basting the chicken occasionally, for approximately 30-40 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees.
• Cut chicken breast and pear in half to serve. Spoon fig sauce over pear. Garnish with cut up figs and sprigs of herbs.

SPICED CHICKEN THIGHS WITH DRIED FIGS

Steps:

• Combine the rice, cinnamon stick, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 1/2 cups water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and stir. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 17 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside, covered.
• Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and the paprika. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil and heat until shimmering. Add the chicken and cook, undisturbed, until well browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and cook until browned on the other side, 3 to 5 more minutes. Remove to a plate.
• Add the shallot to the skillet; cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Stir in the figs, then add the vinegar and remaining 2 bay leaves. Cook, scraping up any browned bits, until the liquid is mostly reduced, 1 minute. Return the chicken to the skillet along with any juices from the plate; add the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the liquid is reduced but still saucy, 10 to 12 minutes; season with salt.
• Fluff the rice, discarding the cinnamon stick and bay leaf, and divide among plates. Top with the chicken, figs and sauce and sprinkle with the parsley.

FRESH FIGS AND CHICKEN THIGHS IN SHALLOT-BALSAMIC REDUCTION

Steps:

• Pat chicken thighs dry and season both sides with salt and pepper.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add chicken thighs and cook, 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Add figs, chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, and shallot. Bring contents to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and let simmer until chicken thighs are no longer pink in the centers and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the centers reads at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), about 8 minutes. Transfer thighs to a serving plate and keep warm.
• Remove figs from the skillet using a slotted spoon and place them around the chicken on the plate.
• Add minced rosemary to the skillet contents, increase heat to medium-high, and allow contents to come to a full boil to create a the reduction. Continue to boil, stirring often, until liquid reduces to approximately 1 cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Drizzle balsamic reduction over chicken and figs and garnish with rosemary sprigs. Serve warm.

CHICKEN WITH ONIONS AND FIGS

Steps:

• In a large skillet, saute onions in butter until tender. Add the figs, honey, lemon juice, garlic and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until mixture is thick, stirring occasionally., Place chicken in two greased 13x9-in. baking dishes. Spoon onion mixture over chicken. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a thermometer reads 180°. Serve with pan juices.

ROASTED CHICKEN WITH FIGS AND ROSEMARY

Steps:

• In a large bowl, toss chicken with salt, rosemary, garlic, citrus zest and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight (the longer the better).
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Spread chicken pieces out on two rimmed baking sheets, making sure there is plenty of room between the pieces. Arrange figs among the chicken pieces, then scatter jalapeño slices on top. Drizzle everything generously with olive oil.
• Roast, switching the position of the baking pans after 15 minutes so everything browns evenly, until the chicken is golden and cooked through. This should take about 25 to 30 minutes for the breast meat, and 30 to 40 for the dark meat. Serve chicken with the orange or lemon wedges for squeezing, if you like.