Chicken Breasts with Balsamic Vinegar and Capers

I knew I was going to have chicken for lunch today, but I had no idea what kind yet, until I remembered a friend told me that chicken marinated in balsamic vinegar was delicious.   I had no idea what her recipe was, and she's on the other side of the world, so I decided maybe it's time for me to experiment in the kitchen. 

Here's what I came up with, and surprisingly, it turned out really good.  Simple but immensely satisfying. :)

I cooked for one, so just adjust accordingly.  I feel this is one of those recipes that don't really need strict amounts or strict measurements. 

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast fillet

Olive oil

1/8 - 1/4  cup balsamic vinegar

one garlic clove, crushed.

2 sprigs fresh thyme

pinch of sugar

salt and pepper

capers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit and grease an ovenproof baking dish with a little olive oil.  

Season  chicken with salt and pepper, and rub olive oil all over it to tenderize.  Combine balsamic vinegar, crushed garlic clove, thyme and sugar.  Pour all over chicken and let sit for at least 10 minutes.  

Transfer chicken to baking dish and add the capers on top (amount depending on your taste).  Bake for about 15 minutes or until juices run clear.  Serve immediately.

I was surprised this turned out delicious.  I drizzled the pan juices over the chicken, and had it with some brown rice.  The sweet, salty  and tart flavors just all surprisingly come together.  Not bad for a kitchen experiment, although, to be honest, even if it didn't turn out to be quite as good, I probably would have eaten it anyway. :)

First Attempt at Meringue

There are literally two ingredients to this one : sugar and egg whites.   Nothing can be more simple than that, right?   But as with life, sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to perfect.   

The key to making perfect meringues, I've learned, is perfectly whisked egg whites.   Especially if you're whisking them by hand like I did,  you have to know the exact moment when you're supposed to stop.   According to the recipe I followed, a good rule to go by is to stop when the eggs don't fall when you turn the bowl over.   I've managed to get to this point, after whisking for about 20 minutes (great arm workout).            And then you whisk the sugar in, slowly, to achieve this silky smooth consistency.   The recipe called for caster suger, but wanting to make it more healthier, I used my favorite raw turbinado sugar, which I ground up in a blender for it to combine easily with the egg whites.  

Spooning the silky smooth mixture over the baking tray was tricky; I seriously did not know how to make them look pretty.  I just spooned them over individually, hoping they'd expand into something pretty and appetizing when they come out of the oven but as you can see in the photo,  I didn't really do a very good job.  After two hours of slow baking, they come out of the oven looking exactly how they did when they went in, just a little fluffier.  Makes me wonder, how did they do those pretty little meringue twirls in the bakeshops, like little miniature ice cream cones?  I must experiment with that next time.  

My brown sugar meringues turned out delicious, but not perfect.  I want to make them look better next time--much like how my grandmother's meringues used to be.   A quick google search on meringues tells me to invest in better ingredients, and to pay attention to the temperature of the egg whites before whisking as it apparently affects the texture and ability to whisk of the egg whites (as is the age of the eggs, etc).   That's very very interesting to me.  See what I mean about simple things being hard to perfect. :)