Blackberry Beer Chicken

Photo: flickr user quinn.anya

Ingredients

2 bot Blackberry beer or ounce divided use 12 each

4 minced shallots divided use

2 cloves garlic minced

4 (6-8 ounce) skinless chicken breast halves bone-in

1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

black pepper to taste

olive oil spray

1 tablespoon walnut oil

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves minced

1/2 cup tea, brewed strong*

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves chiffonade**

Preparation

Pre-Prep: Make tea (see note*). Mince shallots, garlic and rosemary; chiffonade basil (see note**).

Mix 1 bottle of Blackberry beer, 2 shallots and garlic in a medium non-reactive shallow container. Add the chicken breasts, salt and pepper.

Marinate for at least 1 hour; if longer, refrigerate.

Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and place over low heat. Add walnut oil, remaining shallots and rosemary; cook, stirring, until shallots are translucent, about 2 minutes.

Remove chicken from marinade and discard marinade. Adjust heat to moderate, add chicken to the skillet, meaty side down. Cook, uncovered, for 5 to 6 minutes, turning chicken once.

When chicken is browned and shallots are golden, add 3/4 cup of Blackberry beer, cover and simmer 10 minutes.

Turn chicken, continue to simmer uncovered; liquid will reduce and darken in color. Gradually add remaining beer and reduce to about 1/43 cup. After about 5 minutes the sauce will look like a thick coating on the skillet.

Add the strong tea to the skillet, boil until the remaining sauce has been reduced to about 1/2 cup and is dark and syrupy, about 1 or 2 more minutes.

To serve, place chicken on serving plate, sprinkle with basil chiffonade and drizzle about 2 tablespoons of the sauce over each serving.

Cook's Notes: "Make the effort to find Blackberry beer (or Blackberry ginger ale). combined with the strong, dark tea, it adds delightful Blackberry notes to the sauce."

TRIED: I made this at home with boneless, skinless chicken breast halves and shortened the cooking time a bit. It was just excellent!!! You can find the Blackberry ginger ale in health food stores.

* "To make strong tea, bring 1/2 cup water to boiling, add 1 tea bag and allow to stand for 5 minutes; remove bag before using."

** "Making Chiffonade of Basil: Wash and dry leaves. (A salad spinner works well.) Stack leaves, starting with the largest leaf on the bottom and finishing with the smallest one on top. Start at one long edge of the bottom leaf and roll tight, like a cigar. With a sharp knife, slice across the roll, making very thin slices, until all the basil is sliced."

Home since...yum!)