Remember the herbal butter I made a few recipes back? It’s recipes like this where we can use it and rely solely on its flavor. Chefs everywhere confess that butter is the true secret of life (and, for the record, most of the mothers in this region have the same philosophy!), and butter, infused with herbs, is another culinary phenomenon altogether. The herbal butter I’ve used here is infused with basil, garlic, and lemon zest, and melts over grilled chicken breasts while they’re still hot off the grill, oozing with basilly-garlicky goodness all over the place. It’s the butter here that creates the premium sauce that keeps the breasts tender and so very delicious! And with caramelized onions alongside, you really can’t go wrong. When I created this recipe, I served it with plain basmati rice, and a quick salad.
A note on the chicken – I like my chicken thin, so I slice it in advance into fillets before maridating. You can do this or you can leave them as is – just note that the thicker the chicken, the longer it takes to grill. Alternatively you can also slice into strips.
Ingredients:
500g chicken breasts or fillets
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 large yellow onion, sliced into thin rings
Method:
Marinade the chicken in a bowl with the honey, mustards, salt and pepper for 10 minutes
Heat your grill on medium-high (I use a plug-in kitchen-counter grill) and spray lightly with non-stick spray or sunflower oil. Place your chicken breasts alongside each other and grill 5-8 minutes on each side until cooked through. You can do this in batches until your chicken is finished.
Arrange chicken while still hot into a serving dish, and top each breast with 1 or 2 disks of butter. Set aside for a few minutes until the butter melts and creates a light sauce.
While butter is melting over you chicken, place sliced onions onto the same grill, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and grill until tender. The remnants of the chicken’s juices and marinade on the grill will also slightly caramelize the onions for you.
Once tender, arrange the onions under and around the chicken breasts on the serving dish – and serve!
