Balsamic Fig Glazed Chicken

My love of charcuterie boards is boarderline obsessive. 🤣Little bits of lots of different kinds of foods - what's not to like? 💁🏻‍♀️There's no better way to serve a big crowd or even a few picky family members than to offer everyone choices.  

The only real issue with making charcuterie boards is that I only use small amounts of each item so I end up with a lot of "extras."  I have a constant supply of half used jars of jam, open boxes of crackers, leftover meats and small bits of cheeses.  I've gotten pretty good at using up most of the charcuterie surplus but then there are things like half eaten cheese balls and half jars of fig jam.  🤷🏻‍♀️

Sometimes those charcuterie leftovers work to my advantage though.  I'd been staring at the aforementioned opened fig jam jar in my refrigerator for several weeks which is what led me to this gem of a recipe.  The thought of letting the jam go to waste was more than I could bear so I did a little research on fig jam recipes.  I was shocked at how many recipes there were and luckily, I stumbled on this amazing, balsamic and fig glazed chicken recipe. 

I'm a sucker for a great grilled chicken recipe and this one did not disappoint.  I love the combination of the sweet jam and the acidity of the balsamic vinegar.  It really makes a perfect glaze for this summer barbecue standout.

Balsamic Fig Glazed Chicken
3-4 Bone In Chicken Breasts
1 Tablespoon butter
1 medium shallot 
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (12 oz) jar fig preserves
2 Tablespoons honey
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
5 sprigs thyme 
½ cup walnuts 
½ cup gorgonzola – crumbled (optional)

Melt butter in saucepan.  

Add shallot and salt and cook 3-4 minutes. 

Add garlic and saute 1 minute.

Add fig preserves, honey, balsamic vinegar and a sprig of thyme. 

Bring to a boil.  Simmer 10 minutes until thickened. 

Place chicken in a baking dish and season with salt and pepper. 

Spoon glaze over chicken.  Top with more fresh thyme. 

Bake 44-55 minutes in a 350 oven.  

Sprinkle nuts and cheese over chicken if desired.  Serve.  In case your wondering why my chicken has no nuts or cheese - In short, I got a little too excited about eating this and I dove right in the minute that it was cool enough to eat.  🤣  Apparently, I was hungry.  I'm sure that it would be absolutely delicious with walnuts and blue cheese, too.  

Ciao!

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