Yesterday, my daughter, Kylie, and I ran a few errands together. We stopped at Home Goods so I could pick up some gift wrap and cards and while we were looking around, she found a cookbook she’d been eyeing for awhile. I’ve found some really great coffee table books at Home Goods and yesterday, they had a large selection of books, one being the cookbook Kylie bought. When we got into the car, she wanted to take a quick look at it. It’s the perfect cookbook for 20 something’s, for sure, and everyone else that loves a cookbook with a fun personality and great recipes for entertaining, both young and old.

One of the recipes Kylie stumbled upon was for a Ranch spatchcock chicken. I needed to run to the market to pick something up to make for dinner so I decided I’d go with the ranch part of the recipe she liked (I honestly didn’t look at the ingredients because I wanted to make my own recipe, but remembered “ranch” and went from there.).

To be quite honest, I didn’t think I’d blog my recipe from last night because there really wasn’t much effort that had to be put into it. Then I thought, I’m sure everyone enjoys a simple recipe as much as I do after a busy day. Well, Kylie loved this chicken so much, as did Dennis, so here I am this morning blogging it for you all. I hope you enjoy this one!

When I got to the market, I picked up a few packets of ranch seasoning mix.

I also picked up a bottle of Pinot Grigio wine to “soak” the chicken in for awhile. I guess I could call this drunken ranch garlic chicken? Using a small paring knife, I made several slits into each boneless, skinless chicken breast. I sliced three cloves of garlic and placed the slices into the slits in the chicken and placed the chicken in a large shallow dish. Next, I poured a cup of wine into the dish and let the chicken soak for a couple hours. Feel free to soak your chicken for up to 8 hours, or longer, if you have the time. You can even soak it overnight in the refrigerator.

When I was ready to coat the chicken with my ranch dressing mix, I placed each breast, one at a time, into the dish I had dumped the ranch dressing mix into, making sure to evenly coat each breast lightly with the mix. I did not add any salt or pepper to the chicken knowing the dressing mix would have enough sodium.

I placed each breast onto a large baking sheet outfitted with a piece of parchment paper (makes for much easier clean-up).

I placed the baking sheet into a preheated 400 degree oven set with a timer for 30 minutes. With 8 minutes to go in the baking time, I added shredded mozzarella cheese to the chicken and placed it back into the oven for the last 8 minutes. I like to buy a block of cheese and shred it myself, but feel free to use store bought shredded cheese to save on time if you prefer. I placed about 1/8 cup on each breast for melting and then a dab more when serving the chicken.

After the last 8 minutes of cooking, I checked the temperature of my chicken to make sure it had reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees. I plated the chicken and topped it with a pinch of red pepper flakes (which you can fee free to leave off), halved cherry tomatoes, a light sprinkling of shredded mozzarella and some chopped basil.

Ingredients

1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless, thin sliced chicken breasts

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 cup Pinot Grigio wine

2-3 packets dry ranch dressing mix

shredded mozzarella cheese

4 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved

basil

pinch of red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Cut several small slits in each breast and place sliced garlic into slits. Place chicken into a large shallow dish and cover with wine. Cover and place the dish into the refrigerator to marinate for 2-8 hours, or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Pour packets of ranch dressing mix into a dish. Place each chicken breast into mix and cover lightly and all over.
4. Place onto a large baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes. With 8 minutes to go, add shredded mozzarella to each breast. Continue baking the last 8 minutes.
5. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to each breast and top with cherry tomatoes, basil and a tad more shredded mozzarella.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris