Chicken Breasts with Drunken Figs

I don't know if it's just me, but the thought of drunken anything-edible is pretty dang appealing. Just imagine - *insert your ingredient of choice here* soaking in the fruit of the vine and  wallowing in it's goodness. Culminating in you eating up all that goodness of course. Yeah, I knew you'd come round to my point of view eventually.

Needless to say, when I saw this recipe I couldn't resist. And, since I still have a serene (and not at all un-goofy) smile on my face after stuffing my face with these figs I will keep this post short and sweet. So you can get into the kitchen and start dunking things in wine too. Accompanied by a glass of wine to dunk yourself in drink. Just don't blame me for your actions while under the influence of these wine-y jammy figs.

PS: If you are intrigued by the thought of a fig and wine pairing, have a look at this recipe for Fig Wine. I certainly wouldn't mind a glass of that in front of a crackling fire this winter...

Chicken Breasts with Drunken Figs

Adapted from Greek Cooking

Serves 4

500g dried figs

1 3/4 cup white wine

1 tbsp butter

4 chicken breast fillets (skinless & boneless)

salt to taste
1/4 - 1/2 cup water 

2 tbsp orange marmalade

2 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves (+ extra to garnish)

1. Add figs and 1 1/2 cup of wine to a saucepan, bring to a boil, then cover and allow to simmer for 1 hour. Check from time to time to make sure figs aren't sticking to the pan and add some water if necessary.
2. Meanwhile, heat butter in a frying pan and brown the chicken fillets on all sides, adding salt to taste while you do so.
3. Add chicken to the figs, along with the extra water (if all the liquid has been absorbed), orange marmalade, lemon juice and mint. Cover and allow to simmer for another 10 - 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. At this point you may wish to remove the chicken from the pan and cook the sauce on high heat (you can leave the figs in) until reduced. Or you could just serve it as is, alongside some boiled and buttered garlicky baby potatoes.

Nutritional info (per serving): Calories 576.9 , Total fat 5.6 g, Saturated fat 2.4g, Polyunsaturated fat 0.9 g, Monounsaturated fat 1.3 g, Cholesterol 80.1 mg, Sodium 125.3 mg, Potassium 1,260.8 mg, Total carbohydrate 87.3 g, Dietary fiber 12.3 g, Sugars 65.9 g, Protein 33.2 g

Good source of: Niacin 74.2 %, Vitamin B6 41.9 %, Manganese 58.2 %, Phosphorus 34.5 %, Selenium 33.3 %, Magnesium 32, 8 %, Calcium 23.1 %