Garlic Baked Chicken

Not trying to brag, oh wait...I am trying to brag!  I live 10 minutes away from an olive mill.  Who would think, an olive mill in Arizona?  Yes, there is one here.  www.queencreekolivemill.com  if you want to check it out.  They have a shop online, so you can order some of this homegrown goodness!  If you are local, email me.  We can go there for lunch...or breakfast, their bistro has phenomenal vanilla waffles.

I'm all for anything infused, oils...alcohol...well, that's pretty much the extent of my love for all things infused.  QC Olive Mill has a delicious variety of gourmet oils that have been infused with different things, from garlic to chocolate, lemon to chili.  In this recipe, I used their roasted garlic infused olive oil.  I love garlic.  Seriously, I eat it on almost everything.  Because most of you probably don't have roasted garlic infused olive oil handy, I wrote the recipe using extra virgin olive oil and crushed garlic.  It tastes the same, minus the "roasted" part.

Garlic Baked Chicken

Ingredients

·       4 chicken breasts

·       2/3 cup Italian bread crumbs

·       1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese

·       ½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

·       4 Cloves Garlic, crushed

·       dried Italian seasoning (optional)

What else you need

·       baking dish

·       2 shallow bowls

·       small skillet or saucepan

·       knife

·       meat mallet or rolling pin

Directions

1.     Preheat your oven to 450.

2.   Rinse the chicken and pat dry.

3.    Trim any fat off of the chicken, then using a meat mallet (or rolling pin) flatten the chicken to ½ in. thickness.

4.   In a small skillet or saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the garlic.  Cook for about 5 mintues, stirring fairly often so you do not burn the garlic. Remove from heat and transfer to bowl.

5.   In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese, also add the Italian seasoning if you want more bold flavor.

6.   Dip the chicken into the garlic oil, and then into the bread crumb mixture.  Cover both sides with the mix, and transfer to a baking dish.

7.  Bake for 35 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear when it is cut.