Balsamic-Rosemary Marinade

I mentioned in an earlier post that Patrick and I were starting some herb seedlings. We're very excited about them. As of now they have sprouted, been repotted in our creatively painted terra cotta pots, and growing like weeds (joke). They are probably growing just as expected but alas I am impatient. Patrick has discovered his inner botanist; I am eagerly awaiting cooking with these herbs. But I couldn't wait and I cheated. I bought a mature rosemary plant! Finally I can harvest! But now the plant grows and I have to harvest.

This dinner stemmed from that need. The inception of each recipe featured on the blog is varied. Sometimes I go to the store and work from what looks yummy/on sale, sometimes I just flip through a cookbook until something catches my eye, sometimes I crave something, and sometimes I start with something that needs to be used and build a dish around that... This is what happened for this recipe. I needed to use rosemary. Patrick pretty much told me I had to. I browsed around quite a bit. Cookbooks aren't much help with this. Indexes rarely feature herbs. So I turned to my trusty companion, Google. It produced a Balsamic-Rosemary Marinade from Wiliams-Sonoma (adapted from their Essentials of Grilling). Here's the recipe from the website. And here on the blog for your convenience.

Balsamic-Rosemary Marinade

Ingredients
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbs. soy sauce
4 1/2 tsp. firmly packed golden brown sugar
3/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh rosemary
5 garlic cloves, chopped
     I halved the recipe for 3 chicken breasts and marinated for 2 1/2 hours. The website didn't provide much direction for time of marinating or amount to marinate. 

In a food processor, combine the vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar and pepper and pulse until blended. With the motor running, drop the rosemary and garlic through the feed tube and continue to process until fairly smooth. I used my immersion blender!

Marinating chicken!!

I cut up the chicken breasts into 3 inch chunks and place them with the marinade in a ziplock bag. This was in the fridge for about 2 1/2 hours. Every 30-45 minutes or so I would squish the chicken around and toss the bag over.
Patrick made the executive decision to cook the chicken in a nonstick skillet with a little olive oil. Feel free to also roast the chicken. We served it with sauteed green beans and couscous. The marinade was very flavorful! And the bits of fresh rosemary throughout the chicken was delightful.