Friday Night Bistro Chicken

I got this recipe from Carol at Bunny's Warm Oven.  Bunny and her friends, Carol and Cyndy each contribute one of their recipes on each blog post.  In their last post, while Carol posted this recipe for Friday Night Bistro Chicken, Bunny made a Russian Chocolate Braid and Cyndy made a Cherry Cosmopolitan.  Check out the blog if you haven't already seen it!

I made this last night.  It wasn't Friday, but I'm a daredevil like that.  

This recipe calls first for browning boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Shallots are sauteed and a can of diced tomatoes, condensed French Onion soup and some thyme are added.  It all goes into the oven until the chicken is cooked through then Swiss cheese is melted on top of the chicken.  (I forgot all about the cheese!)

Carol had mentioned in her post that there wasn't much sauce, so I added some white wine along with the tomatoes and soup.  I served this over white rice and there was plenty of sauce.  

This recipe was very good but on the mild side for our liking.  I'll make it again, but will add some heat in the way of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes and of course, some garlic.  In fact, this is a good, basic recipe to which you can add or omit ingredients to adjust it to your taste. 

FRIDAY NIGHT BISTRO CHICKEN
(Source: adapted from Recipezaar....posted by Nancy_NJ on Taste of Home)

2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 tsp. salt (I omit this)
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c. chopped shallots (you can substitute chopped onion if you prefer)
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, with their juices
1-1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 (10 1/2 oz.) can condensed French Onion Soup
1 c. grated Swiss cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

In a 12-inch ovenproof skillet, melt butter in the olive oil over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken breasts with half of the salt and pepper, reserving the rest for the sauce. Pan-fry the chicken until both sides are golden but the chicken is not cooked through.

Remove chicken from skillet; set aside. (I place the chicken into a 13x9-inch baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.)

Add shallots to skillet; cook, stirring, until softened, 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice and thyme; cook until sauce has reduced a bit, 4-5 minutes. Add soup; cook another 4 minutes, seasoning with remaining salt and pepper.

Return chicken to skillet; place in preheated oven and bake, uncovered, for 18-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (I pour the sauce over the chicken in the baking dish and place in the oven to bake). Remove from oven; sprinkle chicken with Swiss cheese and return to oven 3-5 minutes more, or until cheese is melted. 6 servings.