Name: French Country Chicken with Herbs and Honey
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: FrenchEurope
Ingredients: 4 bone-in, skin-on split chicken breasts (about 3 pounds), halved crosswise; Salt and pepper; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1 (9-ounce) box frozen artichoke hearts , thawed; 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth; 2 tablespoons honey; 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence (see note); 4 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 4 pieces; 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar (see note)

Why This Recipe Works

We used bone-in, skin-on split chicken breasts for the best flavor and moistest texture in our recipe for French Country Chicken with Herbs and Honey. Cooking the chicken breasts skin-side down in a hot skillet ensured the skin was nice and crisp. When building the sauce, it was essential to scrape up any browned bits left by the chicken. They may not look like much, but the bits add valuable flavor.

Tasters preferred frozen artichokes in our recipe for French Country Chicken with Herbs and Honey, as the texture of canned artichokes was often mushy.

Before You Begin

Herbes de Provence, a dried herb blend, can be found in the jarred herb section of the supermarket. Cider or white vinegar can be substituted for the white wine vinegar.

Instructions

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook chicken skin-side down until well browned, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until meat registers 160 degrees, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter and tent with foil.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet. Add artichokes and cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes; transfer to platter with chicken. Add broth, honey, herbs, and any accumulated chicken juices to skillet and simmer, scraping up any browned bits, until reduced to ¼ cup, about 3 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and vinegar. Pour sauce over chicken and artichokes. Serve.