Maple Glazed Chicken with Blackberry Balsamic Sauce

Enjoy the flavors of fall in this Maple Glazed Chicken with Blackberry Balsamic Sauce. Add a fresh touch of spring with crumbled goat cheese and lemon zest.

ME BEFORE THE RECIPE…

Here’s the deal, I’ve come a long way since my junior high days learning how to style my own hair. As much as I’ve improved from paper thin, curled under bangs, greasy roots, and…in my stubborn twelve year old pre-teen opinion…perfectly placed hair-sprayed ends, I still have an abundant amount of hair taming techniques to refine.

Currently, I’ve been working on the popular barrel curl, and have been for…well…years, but I think I’ve almost got it mastered. Most days it looks fairly decent, and other days I look more like a modern day Shirley Temple prancing around town, which is most certainly NOT stunning or even nearly somewhat attractive as a 35 year old fully grown woman. Those days usually conclude with a top knot, messy bun, or some sloppy version of a ponytail…all of which are technical skills I’m trying to improve as well.

Seriously though, how can a messy bun be so darn difficult???! Isn’t the point of a messy bun to look effortless? Yet somehow, achieving the most perfectly disheveled messy bun is arguably one of the most impossible and equally frustrating skills in the world to perform. It drives me bonkers.

Anyway, yesterday I got sucked in; sucked into one of those scroll down Facebook ads targeting products that the creepy and stalker-ish world wide web thinks or assumes I need. Who knows how they compute all this data science stuff to predict what products I might buy or be interested in, but yesterday Facebook’s “Big Brother” hit the nail on the head for me: hair products.

Yep, I got roped into watching this 20 minute hair tutorial, featuring multiple hair products, that was geared towards busy moms needing to spruce up their week old hair in a jiffy. Hmmm…let’s see. Busy mom? Check. Dirty hair? Double check. Limited time? Yup. Lack of quick hair-styling ideas? Um, do you see me raising my hand???! See, Facebook knows me all too well.

After watching this video featuring one of the most gorgeous women I have ever seen rocking the loveliest of locks (don’t tell me she actually hadn’t washed her hair for seven days), I got inspired to spruce up my own do.

Pause. You see, this is where I first went wrong. Assuming that I could accurately copy a runway worthy coif from an obvious professional beautician in a mere five minutes with literally NO hair-styling talent, was a recipe for disaster waiting to happen. What was supposed to be a loose side braid with a few flowing strands of curls quickly turned into something more like a side braid that I had hurled into a flock of buzzards and finished off with a few spritzes of promising sea salt spray. Because, you know, that beachy, wind blown look is in style, right?

To top it all off, Ben walked into the bathroom just as I was trying to salvage this mess. He stopped, looked at me, and didn’t say a word. He couldn’t even muster up enough of a poker face to shoot me a little white lie like, “Oh, cool hairdo honey.” Nope, he just stared for a moment and continued walking to his closet. Thanks babe. I guess I’ll just stick with my mediocre messy buns for now.

HERE COMES THE RECIPE…

Okay, I may not be some hair-styling guru around here, but one thing I do know how to style is food. I feel so much joy when I assemble plates of colorful veggies, juicy meats, glistening sauces, and fancy garnishes. Forget about a brush and hand me a kitchen torch, paring knife, or a good old cast iron skillet. Now those are tools I know what to do with!

One of my favorite meals recently has been this Maple Glazed Chicken with Blackberry Balsamic Sauce. I’ve made it twice in the last two weeks. The first time was on a whim, and the second time around was to impress my grandma. There’s nothing more I love doing for my guests than providing them with a fancy meal.

This maple glazed chicken with blackberry balsamic sauce is nothing short of stunning on a plate. The blackberry balsamic sauce is rich and vibrant, contrasting beautifully against a white platter. It’s as delicious as it is gorgeous, radiating flavors of sweet, tangy, and earthy. It’s dressed up with warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice to invite a flavor of fall into your mouth. My grandma said she would eat this sauce in a heartbeat over ordinary cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving.

But whose talking about Thanksgiving already?! I would eat this sauce year round!

Besides the lovely sauce, this maple glazed chicken is also a real showstopper. I marinated it for a few hours in a homemade maple vinaigrette and then pan seared it with some olive oil. There’s nothing quite like a juicy chicken breast seasoned and cooked just right. Plus, the residual maple syrup left on the breasts from the marinade crisped up perfectly to form a slightly sweet crust on the outside of the chicken that was absolutely heavenly.

Serving this chicken and sauce on top of some mashed potatoes or creamy cauliflower puree with some ginger roasted veggies makes for an exquisite meal that will impress any guest. And to top it all off, literally, garnish it with a crumble of fresh goat cheese, sprinkle of chopped pistachios, and a zest of lemon peel. I’m telling you, you better make extra because you’ll surely be reaching for seconds.

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Maple Glazed Chicken with Blackberry Balsamic Sauce

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

35 mins

Enjoy the flavors of fall in this Maple Glazed Chicken with Blackberry Balsamic Sauce. Add a fresh touch of spring with crumbled goat cheese and lemon zest.

Author: Brielle

Recipe type: Main

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the chicken:
4 chicken breasts, 4 oz. each
¼ cup pure maple syrup
4-5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon fresh grated ginger
sprig of sage
salt and pepper
For the blackberry balsamic sauce:
2 pints blackberries, divided
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons sherry cooking wine
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
dash each of: cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice, salt, pepper, and garlic powder
sprig of sage (about 5-6 leaves attached)
Garnish:
chopped pistachios
crumbled goat cheese
lemon zest

Directions

Prepare marinade for chicken. In a small bowl, whisk together maple syrup, 2 tablespoons olive oil, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and grated ginger. Set aside.
Trim fat off chicken breasts and pound into an even layer. Place in a ziploc bag or bowl. Pour glaze over chicken. Add sprig of sage. Toss to coat chicken in marinade. Marinade for 4 hours to overnight in fridge. Remove from fridge 30 mins prior to cooking.
When ready to prepare, begin cooking sauce. Add 1 pint blackberries, water, sherry cooking wine, pure maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Whisk to combine. Add sprig of sage.
In a small saucepan, heat sauce over medium heat until simmering. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for 10 mins until blackberries are softened, stirring occasionally. Mash blackberries and cook 5 mins more, stirring occasionally. Pour through a mesh strainer over a small bowl. Push with back of spatula to get all juice out of pulp. Discard pulp and seeds.
Pour sauce back into saucepan and add remaining pint of blackberries. Return to simmering. Cook on low for an additional 5 minutes until sauce is desired consistency.*
To cook chicken, remove from bag and place on a plate. Brush off any grated ginger so it won't burn while cooking.Generously season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in skillet over medium heat. Once pan is hot enough that drop of water sizzles, swirl oil around pan and add chicken. Cook for 5-7 mins on each side, depending on the thickness of your chicken. Add remaining tablespoon of oil to pan right before flipping chicken.
Once chicken is done cooking, remove from pan and let sit on cutting board for 5 mins before slicing.
To serve, slice chicken into ¼" strips, drizzle with blackberry sauce, and top with crumbled goat cheese, chopped pistachios, and a pinch of lemon zest.

Notes

*Sauce thickens as it cools. To test thickness of sauce, coat spoon and blow to cool. Test consistency and seasoning. If sauce ends up too thick, add a bit of water.