Tomatoes with Butter Make YUM

Chicken with Tomato Herb Pan Sauce

It's such a cliche that butter has to make things taste amazing, and I hate to feed it but.. I'm a sucker for a delicious meal. 

Ralph has been so good to me lately. I've got a new job to get used to and a move and getting my own place coming up, and my stress levels have been even higher than usual lately, and thinking about food has been something I just can't deal with. He's been cooking and getting takeout and pretty much just being his wonderful self.

I really wanted to do something nice for him, and cooking is my usual go to. Cooking is my way of conveying good feelings towards people, and in this case I was hoping this dish says 'Thank you for being so wonderful' and 'Sorry for being so useless lately'. Unfortunately, unlike a cake I can't just use writing icing to spell it out.

I found this recipe on Annie's Eats but took tips from Pink Parsley too. I love reading how other people describe making food. It's dreamy and inspiring..

Anyway, I edited the recipe a tiny bit and came up with this:

Chicken with Tomato Herb Pan Sauce
Adapted from Annie's Eats originally from Bon Appétit, July 2011

2 chicken breasts (boneless)
1/4 cup flour

2 tblsp butter
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tblsp olive oil
2 punnets cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup chicken stock
2 tblsp chopped fresh coriander

1) Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and dip in the flour. They'll end up with a very thin coating.
2) Mix butter with garlic, oregano and paprika.
3) Heat up a pan to medium- high heat with the olive oil, and add half of the butter mixture. Smells amazing!
4) Fry the floured chicken breasts in the butter and oil until cooked through and browned. Remove onto a warmed plate, and cover with foil.
5) Place the tomatoes in the pan and increase the heat to high. Fry them, mixing gently until they lose their firmness and start getting a little charred. Here's a picture of them during cooking (it's a bit fuzzy- sorry) - don't they look gorgeous?

6) Add the rest of the butter to the pan. Here pop the tomatoes and mix everything, making a sauce. 
7) Add the stock, and mix until the sauce thickens a bit and comes together.
8) Add the coriander and cook for just a minute before taking off the heat.
9) Slice up the chicken and serve topped with sauce. I served it with cous cous- it worked really well!

I love making warm delicious comforting meals like this. It makes me feel amazing being in the kitchen with things sizzling and steaming. I almost can't remember any of the issues I spend my days worrying about. It's my yummy smelling delicious escape from the real world..