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Smashed Chicken Breasts with Green Peppercorn Sauce

Ingredients

Two bone in, skin on split chicken breasts. That would be four pieces of chicken in the package.
Dizzy Pig Shakin the Tree rub

 For the Green Peppercorn Sauce:

¼ cup or less low sodium chicken stock
6 cloves roasted garlic
2/3 cup cream
1/4 cup beer (the rest is used to marinate the cook!)
2 tsp brined green peppercorns
1 tsp Dizzy Pigs Shakin the Tree rub

The first step is to trim the rib bones from the split breast. These are too small to smash safely and there isn’t any meat on that side of the breast to speak of. You can do this with kitchen shears or a knife, and there is a line of fat along the side that makes it easy to see where to cut or slice.

Once the rib bones are removed, take a flat, (NOT textured, it might crack the bones a little too much) heavy object and flatten the chicken breasts. That includes the bones. Don’t be afraid! Do both sides! You can even use a cast iron skillet. When you are finished the chicken will be about 1⁄2 inch thick. Feel around the edges. There may be a small piece of bone or two that should be removed

Completely dry the chicken with paper towels and season it with a dose of the Shakin the Tree rub. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy skillet, cast iron if you have one. When it’s good and hot, add two pieces of chicken skin side down. They will take up the entire pan.

After about 4 minutes flip them with tongs and cook until the other side has browned as well and the meat is cooked through. Once all of the chicken is cooked, let it rest skin side up on plate while you make the sauce. It looks good enough to eat just like that! But it’s worth making the sauce too. It’s easy.

Deglaze the pan with the chicken stock, scraping the bottom to get all the good stuff into the sauce. Add the rest of the ingredients in order, stirring as you go. Smash the roasted garlic cloves into the sauce while you stir.

Keep stirring. Cook until the sauce is reduced by about 2/3 and it is a rich consistency. This won’t take too long, maybe 8 minutes or so.

Once the sauce is the consistency you want, pour immediately over the chicken and serve.

Let us know what you think about this recipe and how it worked for you. We are always interested in your suggestions and ideas. Happy cookin!