Sauteed Chicken over Wilted Spinach with Kumquat Sauce

I adapted this from a recipe I found in Gourmet magazine. I was in possesion of some beautiful kumquats, and needed a recipe to use them up, so I chanced upon this one. It turned out wonderfully, and is a great winter citrus recipe.


Ingredients:

6 kumquats
2 shallot
4 boneless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup water
6 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
8 cups packed spinach leaves

Preparation:

Thinly slice the kumquats, removing seeds. Slice the shallots. Heat a saucepan over medium high heat and melt the butter. When foam subsides, season chicken with salt and pepper and saute, 5 minutes, until golden brown. Turn chicken and saute on second side until cooked through, another 4-5 minutes. Remove chicken and keep warm.

Cook shallot in remaining butter, until softened, about 1 minute. Sprinkle sugar over shallot and cook for another minute or so, until the sugar melts and starts to caramelize. Do not stir. Once the sugar starts to caramelize, add the kumquats, water, vinegar and red pepper flakes. Simmer until the sugar dissolves completely, stirring regularly. Add parsley, and season to taste with salt. Simmer until the sauce reaches desired consistency. Remove most of the sauce to a small bowl, and add the spinach to the remaining sauce, until just wilted.

To serve, divide spinach between the plates, and top with chicken, spooning sauce over the chicken.

4 servings