Chicken Pietro (Biaggis-style)

Biaggi's is one of my favorite restaurants in town. Their White Chocolate Bread Pudding, despite the fact that it is EVERYTHING that I shouldn't be eating, turns me into a blissful little puddle on the floor. It is my complete undoing and might be my favorite dessert of all time! As far as main dishes, the Chicken Pietro is my favorite. It is a dish of chicken and vegetables with a sauce that I have identified partly as balsamic vinegar and rosemary. I couldn't put a finger on what else was in it, but it is delicious!!

Last Sunday for my birthday, Jeff and I went to Biaggi's with one of my girlfriends and her boyfriend. We split the Chicken Pietro and when he enjoyed it as much as I did, I decided the time had come to finally try and figure it out!

Turns out, it was as easy as entering "Chicken Pietro" in the Google search engine and "poof", there it was. Why I didn't try this years ago, I have NO idea. Here you go:

Chicken Pietro

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons brown mustard (skipped this one because I didn't have it)
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons rosemary
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
1 portobella mushroom, sliced

- In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil, mustard, honey, rosemary, water and salt. Whisk together until smooth.
- Place chicken pieces in a large zipper-top plastic bag and pour half of the sauce over the chicken, making sure all pieces are evenly covered. Refrigerate, covered, for 2 to 24 hours. Reserve the remaining half of the sauce separately.
- In a bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons oil. Add portabella slices and toss to combine. Set aside mixture for at least 15 minutes so mushrooms can marinate.
- Bring reserved half of the sauce to a boil, then reduce heat. Keep warm.
- Sauté mushroom slices with their marinade in a small sauté pan over medium-high heat until soft, about 3 minutes. Keep warm.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade. Using tongs, wipe the grill grate with a paper towel saturated with vegetable oil. (It is important to oil both the chicken and the grill because the honey makes the marinade especially prone to sticking.) Grill the chicken just until cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
- Serve hot, topped with warmed sauce and sautéed mushrooms.


A few notes:
1. I don't have access to a grill so I just cooked the chicken in a pan with the mushrooms and it worked fine.
2. Even for someone who is a bit of a salt addict, I thought the final result was a little salty. Next time I will omit the salt completely from the sauce and just salt the final dish if I want it.
3. All around, the dish was YUMMY but not quite at the same level as Biaggi's. My guess would be that the quality of balsamic vinegar you use is key! I was finishing off a very old, cheap bottle of the stuff and my sauce was just a little bitter/sour, where as the sauce at Biaggi's is really sweet. So as much as possible, use a good quality of balsamic on this dish!
4. Its not in the original recipe, but I added a splash of Sweet Marsala wine to the sauce at the end when it was heating on the stove. I figure wine in sauce is always a good idea!
5. Because it is what they do at Biaggi's and I felt really cool doing the same, I served this with a side of sauted zucchini, summer squash, carrots and red onion.
6. Jeff's feedback was: "It's awesome! But more sauce and more mushrooms would be even better." So I may double the sauce portion and use two portobellos next time. See? With the recent addition of this man to my life, you all are going to get an extra opinion on all my recipes :)

Happy Sunday!