Chicken Baked in White Wine Marinade

Baking the chicken with the marinade infuses it with more flavor. Bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts stay moist and succulent; the skin is discarded after baking. For the prettiest presentation, remove meat from the bones, and slice thinly across the grain.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 breast half)

Ingredients

• 1  cup  dry white wine
• 1  cup  vertically sliced onion
• 1  teaspoon  chopped fresh thyme
• 4  (8-ounce) bone-in chicken breast halves
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  bay leaf
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 4 hours or up to 24 hours, turning occasionally.

2. Preheat oven to 375°.

3. Place the chicken, skin side up, in an 11 x 7–inch baking dish. Pour marinade over chicken. Cover and bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 40 minutes or until done. Transfer chicken to a platter. Discard skin, bay leaf, and marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper.

Wine note: Chicken breasts such as these have a delicate flavor and work best with light wines. In summer, serve them with a cold pinot grigio, which is generally made without oak and is lighter and fresher than chardonnay. Try the snappy Tamás Estates Pinot Grigio from Monterey County, California and Livermore Valley. The 2006 is $12. —Karen MacNeil

Nutritional Information

Calories:

184 (19% from fat)

Fat:

3.8g (sat 1.1g,mono 1.3g,poly 0.8g)

Protein:

33.2g

Carbohydrate:

2.1g

Fiber:

0.3g

Cholesterol:

90mg

Iron:

1.3mg

Sodium:

377mg

Calcium:

24mg