Garlic Butter Chicken

10 Fun And Fascinating Facts About Butter:

1. Butter is generally used as a spread on plain or toasted bread products and a condiment on cooked vegetables, as well as in cooking, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying.

2. Butter consists of butterfat, milk proteins and water, and in some types, added salt.

3. Butter can also be sold with added flavorings, such as garlic butter.

4. It’s most frequently made from cows’ milk, but it can also be manufactured from the milk of other mammals, including sheep, goats, buffalo and yaks.

5. Butter is a water-in-oil emulsion resulting from an inversion of the cream; in a water-in-oil emulsion, the milk proteins are the emulsifiers.

6. Butter remains a solid when refrigerated, but softens to a spreadable consistency at room temperature, and melts to a thin liquid consistency.

7. The earliest butter would have been from sheep or goat’s milk; cattle are not thought to have been domesticated for another thousand years.

8. An ancient method of butter making, still used today in parts of Africa and Near East, involves a goat skin half filled with milk, and inflated with air before being sealed. The skin is then hung with ropes on a tripod of sticks, and rocked until the movement leads to the formation of butter.

9. The ancient Greeks and Romans seemed to have considered butter a food fit more for the northern barbarians.

10. In his Natural History, Pliny the Elder calls butter, “the most delicate of food among barbarous nations,” and goes on to describe its medicinal properties.

Ingredients :

2x 9oz/250g Chicken Breasts, brought close to room temp

1/4 cup / 40g Plain / All Purpose Flour

1/2 cup / 120ml Chicken Stock

6 tbsp / 90g / 3.2oz Unsalted Butter, divided into tbsp chunks (see notes)

2 cloves of Garlic, minced/finely diced

1 tbsp finely diced Fresh Parsley

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Salt, plus more to taste

1/2 tsp Black Pepper, plus more to taste

1 Lemon, divided into 4 wedges (to serve)

Instructions:

In a shallow dish, combine 1/4 cup flour with 1 tsp garlic powder & salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper.

Butterfly your chicken breasts right through the centre to make 4 even sized breasts. One by one dredge in the flour (press in the flour to get an even coverage), give them a shake then place to one side.

Add 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil to a large pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add in the chicken breasts and fry until golden on each side and white/piping hot through the centre. Approx 3-5mins each side depending on thickness. Place to one side.

Turn heat down to a medium and add garlic. Fry for 1-2mins until it just begins to brown, then pour in stock. Use your wooden spoon to scrape off any flavour stuck to the pan, then add in your remaining 5 tbsp butter. Swiftly whisk as it melts to bind with the stock, it should turn slightly cloudy. Sprinkle in parsley and season to taste with salt & black pepper.

Allow to simmer for a few mins to thicken, then turn down heat to low and add back in chicken. Spoon over the sauce then serve up with extra sauce drizzled over and a squeeze of lemon juice to taste.

ENJOY!