No Reservation Required

Every morning this week I have announced to Ted that "tonight we're going out to dinner".  I mean, it's just the two of us, although it's pretty much always just the two of us.  And it's hot.  And it's summer.  What better reason to go out than all that?

But then, around midday, something funny happens.  I happen on a recipe that inspires me to make dinner, not reservations.  Go figure.

True to form, that happened again today.  I was all set to pick a restaurant when, as I was mindlessly paging through this month's issue of Food and Wine, I was hit with... inspiration.  There were a lot, and I mean a lot, of recipes that I wanted to make.

Who woulda thunk it?

So, in the midst of all the chaos going on in my house, what with the painters and the dust and the general schmutz, I found solace in my kitchen and produced this absolutely delicious chicken dish.  And while I was at it, I sautéed up some fresh corn to go alongside.  I set a nice table outside, and before I knew it, we had a dinner so much better than any reservation I could have made instead.

Recipe:  Curried Maple-Mustard Chicken Breasts
Food and Wine, August, 2014

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon mild or hot curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Kosher salt
Pepper
Four 12-ounce, bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.

In a 9-by-13-inch ceramic baking dish, combine the butter with the maple syrup, mustard, curry powder and cayenne. Bake for about 5 minutes, until the butter is melted. Whisk in a generous pinch each of salt and pepper and let cool slightly, 5 to 10 minutes.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper, add to the baking dish and turn to coat with the sauce. Carefully spoon some 
of the sauce under the chicken skin. Turn the chicken breast side up and bake for about 45 minutes, basting occasionally, until the chicken is glazed and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 165°. Transfer the chicken to a work surface and let rest for 10 minutes

Cut the chicken off the bones and transfer to plates. Whisk the pan sauce and spoon over the chicken. Serve, passing additional sauce at the table.