This recipe was one of the first “complicated” recipes I tried soon after I began cooking for real.  I say it was complicated because I was used to opening a can of this and adding a packet of that and cooking until done – here I had to actually use real, basic ingredients to create a meal.  It turned out fantastic then, and I continue cooking it many years after.

Ingredients:

• 2tb butter
• 2tb olive oil
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 medium yellow onions, or 1 large, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1c ground almonds
• 1tb dry basil
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 c honey
• 1-1/2 chicken broth
• 2tb cornstarch
• juice of one lemon*, or bottled lemon juice

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Melt butter and add olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then brown on both sides.  Remove and set aside.
3. In the same skillet, add the onion and cook until translucent.  Add more butter and olive oil in equal amounts if necessary. Add garlic and cook until fragrant – about 30 seconds.  Reduce heat to medium.
4. Add almonds, basil, pepper and honey.  Stir until well blended.
5. Combine corn starch and chicken broth in a small container or cup, whisk well to distribute the cornstarch.
6. Turn the heat up to medium high on the skillet with the almond honey mixture, then add the chicken broth mixture to it. Cook until sauce thickens.
7. Remove skillet from heat and stir in lemon juice.
8. If your skillet is oven proof, place your browned chicken in the skillet and spoon sauce over to cover it completely.  Or, place the chicken in a casserole dish and pour the sauce over top of it.
9. Bake for one hour.

* You may need zested lemon in future recipes.  Before juicing, zest the entire surface of your lemon.  You may then set this out to dry or place it in a very low oven until crispy and dried, then save in an empty herb jar.