If you haven’t noticed, we kinda like bourbon around here. So I decided to go out on a limb and try this bourbon-glazed chicken from Cooking Light when two friends/former co-workers came over for dinner recently. Sometimes recipes from Cooking Light taste a little… like someone took all the fun out of them. But we all really enjoyed this — so much so that I’ve already made it again.

Since we live in an apartment, we don’t really break out the grill very often. I used a grill pan for the chicken instead. But first you need to make the glaze.

The glaze only takes about five minutes. Super easy.

The super-cute panda pan is from Fred Flare. As is my cupcake timer. And the leopard-print ballet flats I wore out, bought a new pair and have pretty much worn out again. Sadly, they don’t seem to carry them anymore.

I have found that the outside of the chicken gets too charred if I have the heat on medium-high or high for the grill pan, so I usually cook them on medium. But, it does take a long time. It would be much faster on a real grill, or you could cook it partially on the stovetop and then stick the whole pan in the oven for a while to finish it. Cutting the chicken breasts in half also speeds it up. If you do cook it on the stovetop, beware of flying bourbon glaze. It’s tasty, but it tends to splatter.

Bourbon-glazed chicken (Adapted from Cooking Light. Serves 4)
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 shallots
2 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons bourbon
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons maple syrup
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Cooking spray

If grilling, preheat grill to medium-high heat.

Finely chop shallots and mince garlic. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Stir in bourbon, mustard and maple syrup and bring to a boil. Cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat.

Arrange chicken on a grill or heated grill pan (coat either one with cooking spray first) and pour/brush half of bourbon mixture over chicken breasts. Cook for about five minutes, then turn chicken over and pour/brush the rest of the bourbon mixture on top.

Continue cooking until chicken is cooked through — this will take about 5 more minutes on the grill, or about 20 in a grill pan (keep flipping the chicken breasts occasionally during that time).