Chicken Roasted with Sour Cream, Lemon Juice and Mango Chutney

"I want there to be no peasant in my kingdom so poor that he cannot have a chicken in his pot every Sunday."

~Henry IV

This was one of the easiest dinners I've ever made.  You whisk a few things together, pour it over the chicken, bake and viola!  Wonderful, succulent chicken with lots of delicious sauce to mop up with noodles, broccoli, bread....your fingers.  The Mister said after the meal "If you told me I was going to eat all that chicken, I would have said you were crazy, but that was fantastic (and there was nothing left)."  

The recipe came from The Essential New York Times Cookbook  that I recently purchased and am enjoying.  I have a lot of cookbooks, and this is my new favorite.  If you like to cook; buy it, you won't regret it.

Chicken Roasted with Sour Cream, Lemon Juice, and Mango Chutney

Serves 2

2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced in half (as if to butterfly)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons Major Grey's mango chutney

1 teaspoon curry powder

Juice of 1 lemon

Freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Lay the chicken in a medium baking dish (either Pyrex or enameled cast iron).

2. Whisk together the mayonnaise and sour cream in a small bowl.  Add the chutney and curry powder and whisk until smooth.  Add the lemon juice a little at a time, tasting as you go.  It should taste quite tangy.  Stop when it is to your liking.

3. Spoon the sauce evenly over the chicken.  Sprinkle with cracked pepper.  Place in the oven and roast until the sauce is bubbling and starting to brown on the chicken.  Amanda Hesser's recipe said to cook it 15 minutes.  I preferred it cooked 25 minutes so it would brown nicely.

Cook's note: Whatever you do, do not substitute low-fat or non-fat sour cream or mayo...they will not cook down properly to make the sauce.