Chicken Breasts With Feta And Figs Food

COUSCOUS STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST WITH FETA, SUN-DRIED TOMATOES AND KALAMATA OLIVES

Steps:

• For the couscous: In saucepan over medium heat add olive oil, when hot, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and saute a few minutes more. Add olives and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the box of couscous, turn off heat and let stand covered for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork, and season with salt and pepper. Spread 2 cups on large plate, add in 1/2 pound feta, and let cool. Keep the remaining hot to serve with chicken. (Put in covered casserole and reheat in oven last 10 minutes with chicken.)
• For the chicken: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Trim chicken with a boning knife, if needed. Start at top of breast and carefully make a lengthwise cut from top to bottom and making a pocket about 2 inches, making sure not to pierce the other side of the breast. When couscous is cool enough to handle, carefully spoon couscous mixture into pocket. Even out the stuffing by gently moving it around with your hands. Wipe off any excess couscous from outside of breasts and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat olive oil and butter in saute pan and brown off both sides of chicken. Place chicken on baking sheet and place in oven for 20 minutes.
• While chicken is baking, make the sauce.
• For the sauce: In saute pan that you cooked chicken breasts in, heat and add garlic. Deglaze with white wine and add lemon juice. Reduce by one third. Add in sun-dried tomatoes, let reduce for 2 to 3 minutes, add the olives, turn off heat, add the butter and stir to combine.
• To serve, place couscous from oven on plate, cut chicken breast in half, top with sauce, crumble remaining feta cheese over.

CHICKEN BREASTS WITH FETA AND FIGS

Steps:

• One at a time, place each chicken breast between pieces of plastic wrap or parchment and lightly pound with a mallet until it is 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Chicken breasts should be of uniform thickness.
• Place chicken breasts in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and toss with rosemary, garlic and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cover bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.
• Place oven on lowest setting, around 200 degrees. Cook the chicken: Heat a large cast-iron skillet or grill pan over high heat for 5 minutes. Add remaining olive oil to pan and reduce heat to medium-high. Turn over chicken breasts in marinade to coat them, then add them to the pan, rounded side down. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes on one side, until cooked halfway through.
• Turn chicken breasts over and carefully arrange feta on top, dividing it equally among the 4 breasts. Sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves over feta on each breast. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, until breasts are cooked through. Feta will warm but will not melt. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep in warm oven while you cook the figs.
• Add wine to pan and scrape with a wooden spoon to deglaze the bottom. Boil wine until it has reduced by half, then add figs, honey and remaining thyme. Cook, stirring, until figs break down and begin to look jammy, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Serve chicken breasts with fig compote on side and garnish with rosemary sprigs.

FANTASTIC FETA CHICKEN

Steps:

• Arrange chicken in 13X9-inch baking dish.
• Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the juice.
• Sprinkle with oregano and pepper.
• Top with cheese; drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon juice.
• Bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes or until cooked through.

BAKED FETA AND FIGS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F (191°C) with a rack in the center position.
• Combine the figs in a 9-by-13-inch (23-by-33-cm) baking dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil, the salt, and pepper and toss to coat. If your block of feta is packed in brine, drain it and pat it dry. Nudge the figs toward the edges of the baking dish, and place the block of feta in the center.
• Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil and the honey over the cheese and then sprinkle the tarragon over everything.
• Bake until the figs have released some of their juices and the feta is knife-tender, 15 to 20 minutes. The feta should be relaxed and gloriously melted around the edges. If using any of the substitutes for figs, you may need to add about 5 more minutes to the baking time-you want the fruit to be softened but not shriveled.
• Serve the baked feta and figs warm, with plenty of crackers or warm pita alongside. To balance out the sweetness, feel free to add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar (or a nice glass of Malbec, for that matter).

FETA CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Place chicken breasts between 2 pieces of waxed paper. Gently pound chicken with flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin until about 1/4 inch thick; remove wax paper. Place 1 ounce of feta cheese in the center of each chicken breast, and fold in half.
• Spread 2 tablespoons bread crumbs in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange chicken in the dish, and top with remaining bread crumbs.
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

CHICKEN WITH FETA CHEESE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine feta and oregano. Make a pocket in chicken breasts: Holding chicken flat with palm of one hand, make an incision in thicker side of each breast with a paring knife. Carefully pivot the knife to create a deep pocket, keeping the other side of the chicken breast intact. Stuff pockets with feta mixture, dividing evenly; generously season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook until browned on both sides, 6 to 7 minutes per side.
• Cover skillet, and continue cooking until chicken is opaque throughout and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 160 degrees. about 5 minutes more. Remove chicken to a platter, and keep warm.
• To the skillet, add chicken stock, and cook, stirring up brown bits with a wooden spoon until reduced slightly. Add lemon juice and butter. Reduce the heat to low, and swirl pan until butter is melted, and sauce is slightly thickened. Serve chicken drizzled with sauce.

EASY FETA-CHICKEN BAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Place chicken in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
• Drizzle with 1 Tbsp. lemon juice. Season with black pepper. Top with cheese; drizzle with remaining lemon juice.
• Bake 35 to 40 min. or until chicken is done (165°F). Top with red peppers and parsley.

MOROCCAN CHICKEN WITH FIGS AND COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Place the chicken thighs into a big bowl.
• Add the spices(brown sugar, coriander, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper and flour)
• Coat the chicken with the spices and set aside.
• Put the olive oil into a large skillet and set over medium heat. When hot, add the chicken and brown it on each side.
• Remove it from the skillet and add the chopped onion and chopped figs to the skillet. Saute for 1 minute.
• Add the chicken broth, flour and salt and pepper to taste.
• Add back the chicken to the skillet and let it simmer covered on medium low heat for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
• Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve over couscous or quinoa.

CHICKEN THIGHS WITH TOMATOES AND FETA

Steps:

• Pat chicken thighs dry with paper towels; season all over with salt. Arrange skin side down in a cold large cast-iron skillet. Set over medium heat and cook chicken, undisturbed, rotating pan as needed for even browning, until skin is very deep golden brown and crisp and chicken releases easily from pan, 13-16 minutes. Using tongs, transfer chicken to a plate, arranging skin side up.
• Combine tomatoes, harissa paste, vinegar, 1 oregano sprig, and ½ tsp. salt in same skillet. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes burst and their juices start to thicken, 8-10 minutes.
• Nestle chicken thighs into tomatoes, skin side up. Reduce heat to medium-low, bring to a simmer, and cook until chicken is just cooked through and flesh is no longer pink (an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part near the bone will register 165°F), and tomato sauce is thickened so that a wooden spoon dragged through it leaves a trail, 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes.
• Break feta into large pieces; scatter over chicken. Some pieces will stay intact while others will soften into the sauce a little-and that's exactly what you want. Pick leaves off remaining 2 oregano sprigs and scatter on top.
• Serve with bread for sopping up any extra tomato sauce.

CHICKEN BREASTS WITH PEARS AND DRIED FIGS

Steps:

• *NOTE: If using feta, it is high in sodium, so you may want to adjust the amount of salt indicated in the recipe. Also, the directions did not say to peel the pears, but I did anyway.
• In a small bowl, mix together the cheese, fresh herb and garlic. Place 2 rounded tablespoons of the mixture onto the center of each pear half.
• In a blender or food processor, puree the chicken broth, figs, balsamic vinegar and sugar until smooth. (You may have to do this in batches.).
• Pour the chicken broth mixture into a strainer over a bowl. Using a spatula, press the liquid through the strainer into the bowl. Discard the solids.
• Pour HALF of the fig sauce into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Place the chicken breasts over the sauce in the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Now take a filled pear half and place cut side down (that means the filled half is placed cut side down) over each chicken breast. Drizzle with the remaining fig sauce.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Cover baking dish with foil and bake in oven for 20 minutes.
• Remove the foil and continue baking, basting the chicken occasionally, for approximately 30-40 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees.
• Cut chicken breast and pear in half to serve. Spoon fig sauce over pear. Garnish with cut up figs and sprigs of herbs.

FETA ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Crumble feta cheese into a bowl. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, black pepper, lemon zest, oregano, and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Mix and smear into a smooth paste with the back of a spoon. Reserve lemon juice for the sauce.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Season chicken cavity with salt and stuff rosemary and oregano inside. Tie legs together with string, season surface with salt, and tuck wingtips under. Place chicken in a roasting pan.
• Tuck fingers under the skin where the breast starts and lift it away from the flesh. Push a small rubber spatula between the skin and flesh and continue loosening the skin all the way down towards the wing. Repeat on the other side. Push a spoonful of the feta filling under the skin. Smooth over the surface of the skin to distribute filling evenly underneath. Repeat until filling is used up.
• Rub 2 teaspoons olive oil onto the chicken, smoothing over the skin. Dust the top with cayenne and season with kosher salt.
• Roast in the preheated oven until juices run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 155 to 160 degrees F (68 to 71 degrees C), about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes.
• While the chicken is resting, pour off all, some, or none of the fat from the pan, and add lemon juice. Set over medium heat, and use the juice to deglaze the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add a splash of broth and adjust seasonings. Slice chicken and spoon sauce on top.