Pear Chicken

I made this recipe for the first time over the weekend and loved it. This would be a great entertaining meal. The flavors are fantastic together and give a bit of a fancy feel. But it was so easy to make! Just tell your guests you slaved away all day in the kitchen.

First I pulled out all of the ingredients to make sure I had everything I needed.

Next, I turned the oven on to 450 degrees to preheat. I put 4 tablespoons of olive oil into a small bowl. I added 3 cloves of minced garlic and about 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh thyme to the oil and gave it all a quick mix with a fork. I rubbed the olive oil mixture all over 4 huge chicken breasts.

I coated them well but saved a little of the mixture for later. Then into the oven with the chicken. They need to cook about 25 minutes or until fully cooked through. These were really big chicken breasts so I just kept an eye on them.

While the chicken is cooking, you can focus on the other ingredients. I quartered 4 pears. I went to cut my shallots but realized they had gone bad so I resorted to onions. I cut them into big chunks. Use 3 or 4 shallots or about a half of an onion. Or more if you like.  From the picture you can see I had one good shallot and the rest was onion.

I put the pears and onions into a deep sauté pan with the remaining olive oil mixture to cook over a medium heat. Cook until they start to brown then remove them to your serving plate. I let the onions cook a little longer than the pears.

Using the same sauté pan I started the sauce. First I melted 4 tablespoons of butter and mixed in 2 teaspoons of flour.

Add a cup of pear nectar and 1 ½ cup of chicken broth. Bring to a boil and stir until the sauce thickens. What is pear nectar you ask? Don’t worry – I asked the same thing. I found it in the fruit aisle and it came in a can. Think apple juice but thicker and almost grittier. I tried a tiny sip but could never see myself actually drinking this stuff.  It wasn’t bad, I just have this texture thing. 

The chicken should be about ready now. Pull it out of the oven and arrange on top of your pears and onions. As I mentioned earlier, these chicken breasts were huge so I cut them in half lengthwise. Drizzle the sauce over the dish, serve, and graciously accept compliments.

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken breast
4-5 tablespoons of olive oil
3 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons fresh thyme
4 pears
1/2 onion
4 tablespoons of butter
2 teaspoons flour
1 cup pear nectar
1 1/2 cup chicken broth

Preparation:
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix olive oil, minced garlic and chopped thyme in a small bowl. Coat chicken breasts with olive oil mixture saving a small amount for later use. Put chicken on a greased pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.

Quarter the pears and cut onion into large chunks. Cook in saute pan with remaining olive oil mixture over medium heat. Once pears and onions begin to brown, remove from pan and arrange on serving platter.

In same saute pan, melt butter and mix in flour.  Add pear nectar and chicken broth.  Allow to boil and stir continuously until sauce thickens. 

Arrange chicken over onions and pears.  Drizzle sauce over chicken and serve.

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