Maple Dijon Chicken
Happy New Year everyone–we made it to 2024. Here’s hoping that your year’s off to a good start.
I took a work trip a few months ago and visited Canada-Montreal, QC to be exact. It was my first time visiting the country, and even before going I knew that I wanted to bring back some culinary souvenirs.
Turns out that Canada has a few specialities that you can find pretty much anywhere you go. One of them is poutine, a savory dish where a combination of french fries and cheese curds are topped with a rich brown gravy (I passed on it). Another was butter tarts, a dessert of rich flaky pastry that’s filled and baked with a smooth vanilla custard (these I tried, and they were delicious.)
A third food trend I noticed while there was a maple overload; Canadian maple syrup is a THING, to the point where you can find a maple-flavored everything in the stores and farmer’s markets, and I do mean EVERYTHING.
For my part, I took home a few maple items myself, among them a great big bottle of pure maple syrup. I knew I was going to use it in a recipe I would end up posting here, I just wasn’t sure what it would be. I have to admit I thought that it would be a sweet/dessert dish, but as you can see, that isn’t what ended happening.
We eat a lot of braised chicken in our house, so I started from a place of trying to design a main dish around that; more specifically, a savory sauce/braising broth that incorporated maple syrup but would still taste good with chicken.
Maple syrup is extremely sweet, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used in a dessert; you just have to know how to balance it out flavor-wise. Mustard is a really great complement to it, as it’s sharp and tangy flavor packs enough of a punch to mellow out the intensity of that sweetness. I used two types of mustard in this sauce: dijon and honey. Herbs and onions are also in there to round it all out.
There aren’t a whole lot of bells and whistles to this recipe, but it really doesn’t need them. If you’re a fan of either maple syrup, dijon mustard, and a stick to your ribs kind of meal, then you’ll like this. Because it’s a braise, it’ll also freeze really well and taste better the next day so if you’re one of those people (like Yours Truly) that likes to meal prep on the weekends, then this is a good recipe for you to stick in your back pocket.
7 days into 2024; let’s make this is a good year!
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Maple Dijon Chicken
Recipe from Jess@CookingisMysport
Ingredients
- 6 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into medium sized (about 2 inches) cubes
- 2 cups flour
- 2 1/2 tablespoons of your favorite multi-purpose seasoning (I used Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Sauteed)
- 1 medium red onion, sliced
- 1 medium yellow sweet onion, sliced
- 4-6 stalks of green onion, diced
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup honey mustard
- 1/3 cup dijon mustard
- 48 ounces of low sodium chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons ground sage
- 1 teaspoon ground rosemary
- 1 teaspoon ground oregano
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons seasoning salt
- Onion powder, to taste
- Garlic powder, to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Divide the cubed chicken into two 1 gallon sized plastic bags.
In a medium size bowl combine 2 cups of the flour with the multi purpose seasoning and stir together with a fork.
Evenly divide the flour mixture between the two ziploc bags. Seal tightly, then toss to coat thoroughly, so that there is an even layer over meat.
Coat the bottom of a large non-stick stockpot or Dutch Oven with a few tablespoons of canola, vegetable or olive oil. Brown the floured meat over high heat on the stovetop. Don’t worry about it cooking all the way through, just cook long enough to give it some color. When it’s browned, temporarily move the meat to a sheet pan. Don’t overcrowd the pot, you’ll have to repeat/do this in about 2-3 batches to get through all of the meat.
When you’re finished browning the meat, add a little bit more oil to the pot, then add the onions. Cook over medium heat until they’re softened and translucent, 5-10 minutes. Remove the onions from the pot and place them with the browned chicken.
Pour the chicken broth into the pot with the maple syrup, mustards, bay leaves, and remaining seasonings.
Use a wire whisk to stir, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Allow to cook for about 10 minutes, tasting and adjusting for seasoning (but also keep in mind, it’s going to develop even more flavor in the oven, so it’s okay if it doesn’t taste perfect just yet)
If it’s a little thin for you, dissolve a few tablespoons of flour in about 1/4 cup of water and stir into the broth.
Spray two 11 x 13 baking dishes with cooking spray and place the browned chicken and onions in the dishes.
When the broth is at your taste level, ladle it over the chicken so that is is at least half-submerged. (You’ll have extra broth leftover, this is fine) Cover the baking dishes tightly with foil.
Braise in the oven for 50-60 minutes, until the chicken can be easily pulled apart with a fork.
Sharing at Fiesta Friday #518, co-hosted by Pauline @ Beautiful Voyager.
Sounds good. What temperature do you put the oven on?
I asked you a question on your cranberry bar 12 days of Christmas recipe, haven’t heard back yet.
Have a fulfilling New Year!
Thank you for pointing this out to me–the temp should be 350F!
Hmm, that’s odd; I saw and did reply to the question on the Cranberry Bars post when you asked–if you go to the comment section you should be able to see it? (Let me know if you can’t, I’ll just post it here.)
Happy New Year!!!
Maple and Dijon are such a nice combination!
Happy New Year!
Thank you Dorothy–Happy New Year!