So today I read about something called “burnt broccoli”. A few girls on a dinner forum were asking for the recipe. I read the post, and I read most of the suggested recipes. One of the girls, named Hayley, had a similar version of what I wound up creating. It’s essentially roasted broccoli—very well done roasted broccoli (which is where the “burned” idea comes from). I LOVE broccoli, but I’ve never had it roasted! One of my coworkers and I ventured into Trader Joe’s to pick up my broccoli so I can try it out tonight. On our way, she mentioned the apple butter sauce I told her about a while back. She’s been wanting the recipe for some time. I made her a deal—if Trader Joe’s had the apple butter, I would make apple butter chicken for dinner. I usually use pork, but her boyfriend isn’t a fan, and I had just made pork chops last week. Let’s see….there was mango butter, fig butter, honey apple butter, and cranberry apple butter—no regular apple butter! I picked up a jar of both fig and apple cranberry butter.
When I got home, I tried the butter. It tastes a lot like cranberry sauce, tart and sweet. Yummy! I’m loving this and it reminds me of Thanksgiving. You can try this with turkey breast as well. If you can’t find any cranberry apple butter, substitute cranberry sauce. The consistency will differ, but it will taste similar. Oh, and the “burnt broccoli” was delicious too!! I used baby broccoli instead of regular. The stalks were still crisp, and the florets were chewy and sweet. This meal was very simple to make, and looked fantastic. Mmm, Mmm, Mmm.
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 1 small yellow onion diced small
- ½ cup cranberry apple butter
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ tablespoon all-purpose flour
- salt
- pepper
- extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 bunches baby broccoli (also called broccolini)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil plus extra for drizzling
- 1 clove garlic finely minced or grated
- dried parsley
- Trim chicken of excess fat. Pat dry, and season with salt and pepper.
- Coat the bottom of a skillet with extra-virgin olive oil. On medium-high heat, saute the chicken until both sides are nice and brown. Remove from pan—set aside and keep warm.
- Add a bit more oil to the pan. When hot add the diced onion. Saute until slightly browned and softened.
- Deglaze the pan by pouring the with chicken stock into the skillet, and scraping all the bits off the bottom.
- Stir in the cranberry apple butter and brown sugar. Once bubbling, lower the heat to medium low.
- Combine the butter and flour into a paste and whisk into the simmering sauce. Let simmer for another 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
- Serve over chicken.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Toss the breadcrumbs with salt, ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and parsley.
- Lay the broccoli on an aluminum foil covered sheet tray. Drizzle a bit of extra oil on the brocollini, then top with the breadcrumb mixture. Try and place the breadcrumbs on the broccolini itself, any on the tray will burn more easily.
- Place in the oven about 30 minutes or until the florets have blackened slightly.
i’m definitely making this tonight! looks great!
let me know how it comes out!
thank you so much!!
i’ll be making this tonight too, baby broccoli and all! =))
awesome! let me know how you like it
Can’t wait to try this. I love baby broccoli!
soo yummy!
Finally made it! Didn’t get the sauce quite right but it was yummy! And the mashed potatoes? Can’t belive I made them, sooo good! The only thing that didn’t work for me was the broccoli.. Still a hater! Lol. Everybody else enjoyed it though! Thanks soooo much for all the great recipes!! =))
Great!! Your sauce looked perfect even if you didn’t think it did lol. So glad you liked the potatoes…so easy too right?? O well, I’m proud of you that you at least tried the broccoli
Very easy! I’ll be making those a lot now! And exactly, at least I tried the broccoli.. Your recipe (and photos of course) made me want to!!