Roasted Chicken Breasts with Grapes and Sherry Vinegar

By Leslie Blythe Chicken Roasting, Sautéing

October 23, 2017

Roasted Chicken Breasts with Grapes and Sherry Vinegar is very tangy and flavorful. Sherry vinegar is made from sherry wine, which is produced in the Jerez (Xérès or Sherry) denomination of origin in southwestern Spain. The unusual thing about the vinegar (and the wine) is that it’s aged and blended so that younger vinegar picks up the characteristics of the older vinegar: complex, harmonious, deep, rich, nutty, slightly sweet, and very sharp. Sherry vinegar has no true substitute.

Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 40 mins
Yields: 4 Servings

Ingredients

12 ounces seedless red grapes, halved

4 tablespoons sherry vinegar, divided

2 teaspoons white sugar

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

4 teaspoons fennel seed, finely ground

4½ ounce bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, patted dry

2 medium red onions, root ends intact, peeled, each cut into 8 wedges

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons salted butter

1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard

6 tablespoons fresh tarragon, finely chopped

Directions

1Heat the oven to 475°F with a rack in the middle position. In a small bowl, stir together the grapes, 2 tablespoons of the vinegar, the sugar, and ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Set aside. In a separate small bowl, combine the fennel, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper, then use to season the chicken breasts on all sides. In a medium bowl, toss the onion wedges with the oil and ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper.  

2Arrange the onion wedges around the perimeter of a roasting pan and place the chicken breasts in a single layer in the center. Roast until the thickest part of the breasts reaches 160°F, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter and let rest for 10 minutes.

3Meanwhile, drain the grapes, reserving the liquid. Add the grapes to the center of the roasting pan and return the pan to the oven. Cook until the grapes just begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Transfer the roasting pan to the stovetop, add the reserved grape liquid and cook over medium-high, scraping up any browned bits, until most of the liquid has evaporated about 2 minutes. 

4Off heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar, the butter, mustard and tarragon. Stir until the butter melts. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture over the chicken.  

5Tip: Don’t completely cut off the root ends of the onions. Just shave off the dry, fibrous outer layers. This helps the onion wedges hold together.

Recipe by Diane Unger,Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Magazine

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