Boozy Sauteed Chicken

Roommates, roommates, roommates. Can't live with them, can't live...well, you could live without them, but you might not be able to pay your share of the rent anymore. Drat.

I love my roommates, as it happens-- all four of them, five if we count the kitten-- but once in a while I could wish for my own kitchen. My plans to make a delicious boozy chicken, perhaps with a side of the daringly high-fat French-Canadian classic, poutine, were halted last night by one of my will-remain-nameless-roommates' sporadic cook-fests that produces wild amounts of food and a porportionate amount of mess. The kitchen was a war zone, strew with abandoned eggplant slices, bell pepper cores, onion skins, and encrusted pans, colanders, knives...oh, and beer cans. There wasn't a scrap of counter space left for me.

Feelings were mended by said roommate offering me a scoop of pasta and a slice of feta and sundried tomato flatbread that was as big as my head. But damn, was I still itching to make that chicken.

And even though the kitchen is still a war zone, with one small length of counter cleared in the interval, I made my chicken tonight anyway. And it was delicious. And I even cleaned up after myself when I was done.

This chicken is incredibly easy to make and infinitely adaptable. Chicken and a few glugs of dry white wine are all you need to produce tender, savory meat that will leave you licking your fingers for every last scrap of sauce.

Boozy Sauteed Chicken

recipe adapted from food loves writing

Serves one, but easy to scale up.

Ingredients:
1/2 chicken breast, flattened a little or cut into tenders
1 clove garlic, minced
a few glugs dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp olive oil

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a small nonstick skillet. When hot, add in the chicken and garlic. Cook chicken on medium heat, 2-3 minutes, until browned on both sides.

Add just enough wine to cover the bottom of the pan. Chicken will sizzle beautifully. Add salt and pepper and mix into wine-sauce.

Continue cooking and turning chicken to cook on all sides, about 8-10 minutes. Press down on chicken gently to ensure even cooking. Check thoroughly for pinkness while cooking. Add more wine as necessary, scraping up any burned bits from the bottom of the pan. The chicken will brown and the smell of the wine will waft upwards to tantalize you while you stir.

When chicken is cooked all the way through, remove from heat and serve with a side of vegetables and perhaps a slice or two of baguette. Not to mention the rest of that wine.