Chevre Me Timbers

Chevre.  Goat Cheese.  Who knew that goats could produce such deliciousness?  The first time I had goat cheese was a magical experience but I knew not what it was!  It was something of a hunt for the holy grail to discover that the delicious creaminess I had enjoyed is commonly called Goat Cheese or Chevre.  It pairs heavenly with chicken and is a super fancy way to dress up grilled chicken.  This recipe goes a little bit further and is great for both everyday meals and special occasions.

Chevre Chicken with Herb Reduction

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 15-20 minutes
Serves: Depends on how much you make!
Requires: A love of goat cheese, but no fancy kitchen doohickeys.

• chicken breasts (I find most breasts are huge, so I butterfly them into two for thinner breasts, otherwise you need to pound yours flatter to get the fast cook time)
• chevre goat cheese (This is not feta, don't get the two mixed up)
• olive oil
• 1 c. of chicken broth (This is a guesstimate, you'll see below)
• Optional - fresh/dried herb(s) of choice (Rosemary, sage, and thyme are standard chicken herbs)
• salt and pepper (Finishing salt, if you have any, pairs best)

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Wipe it down with olive oil along the insides.  You'll find this light way of prepping a hot skillet minimizes hot oil popping and skips excess fat in your meal.
2. Put your chicken breasts in the pan and sear on both side to a nice golden color.  Reduce heat to medium and finish cooking.  You may be tempted to salt and pepper your chicken at this point, but resist the urge!  Adding salt at this point will pull moisture out of the chicken.  By searing on both sides and salting only once the chicken is done, you'll maximize the juiciness of the chicken breast.  Once done, set aside but leave the skillet on the stove.
   
3. Carefully (because this will splatter) add in enough chicken broth to cover about 1/2 inch of the hot skillet.  It'll start evaporating in a hurry, so add in your herbs (if you decided you want to use any; this does work well with no herbs) quickly and let it simmer away.  The longer it simmers, the more it picks up the herb flavoring.  If it reduces too much, add more chicken broth. 
    
   If you want, cut some extra herbs up for topping your chicken with.  A neat trick for leafy herbs is to take and lay them on top of one another.  Then roll them up together and slice thinly.  When you unroll the slices, you'll get nicely presentable herbs.
      
4. Pour reduction over chicken and top with as much goat cheese as you like.  We love the stuff, so our chicken got a healthy dosage.  I then popped it into the microwave for 30 seconds to soften the cheese before topping with the extra sage.