Real garlic would make a major difference.

Ann

Well the brown sugar sounds out of place in that recipe to me.
How about adding some peppers to the onion when sauteeing them, and sub 2 cloves of fresh garlic for the powder.
Finish with a sprinkle of chopped parsley.
Linda C

I was lazy and used garlic powder. The actual recipe called for minced garlic cloves. Bad me. It still needs something like Worc. sauce or say sauce or what??

Maybe add some sherry or Madeira?

More dry red wine. Reduce some and add it to the sauce.

I would finish cooking the chicken in the oven at 350 on a baking sheet and at the same time, use about 1 cup of wine and reduce it to one half in the pan.

After reducing, add 1-2 tablespoons of butter and let them slowly melt while you whisk them into the wine. Add a sprinkling of dried basil.
Now add the onions that were cooked with the real garlic (3-5 chopped cloves).
Taste the sauce. If it is not sweet enough for you add the brown sugar. But I wouldn't. I might add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste for the umami flavor but only if I had some handy.

Add the cooked chicken breasts, flip to coat, sprinkle with parsley and pecorino and serve. Don't cook any more. I say no to Worcestershire- except in Chex Mix.

I would use a Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon ( my first choice) for the wine.
Anyway, that's what I would do.

I would try some Dijon.

Bumblebeez, that's amazing. I am definitely cutting and pasting that into the recipe! I will try it that way next time. I was already into this recipe, so there was no turning back. I used a Malbec because I had an open bottle. The wine was fine. I tried to make some additional sauce with some Chianti and that was not so good.

Would you believe the original recipe called for half a cup of sugar? Oy. It needed a little more wine and whole lot less sugar than the original.

What is umami?

I put in a dash of worcestershire sauce and it helped some, but wasn't what I was looking for. Maybe I should have tried the dijon. Or maybe I should have just poured the malbec into a glass to drink and forget the whole thing.

I am thinking a little bit of thyme or some other herb if you prefer.

Linda

I'm not sure about so much sugar.

But, taking the recipe as given, I would:
- Not pound the breasts (no need, the simmering will cook them through)
- Salt the breasts, let sit awhile (20 min if you have time), the coat w/ flour
- Heat dry pan on highest heat, then coat w/ oil, when it starts to shimmer or smoke, brown breasts. Just place them in the pan and leave them alone for 5 min, turn over and place on a fresh part of the pan if possible, let sit another 5 min. Heat high the whole time, unless oil is smoking too much. Get them nice and brown. Because they are not pounded thin, less issue with overcooking.
- Remove chicken, heat to med high, cook onions and garlic. Fresh, not powdered. Minced, not rings. Cook until just browning. Remove veg to bowl. I'd add some herbs and salt here.
- Pour off excess oil and fat. Add all the wine, deglaze the pan. Heat to high, boil wine until reduced by 1/3 or if you have patience, 1/2.
- Pour the reduced wine with the dissolved fond into a bowl. Add sugar to the empty pan, dissolve and carmelize it a little.
- Add wine and veg back, mix with the dissolved sugar. Add the chicken, simmer until temp is as desired.
- if you want to speed this up, you could start reducing the wine at the beginning, in a separate pan.

Hope that works. I think the main thing is to develop as much fond as possible, and to reduce the wine as much as you have time for, and to use real veggies.

Maybe a little more salt?

A little more salt is good -- except for your blood pressure!

John -- okay, I'll save that method, too. Thanks. I see a lot of chicken with wine in my future.

I'd have left all the sugar out, but that's me! The dijon sounds like a good addition. I like pounded chicken breasts.

From wisegeek:

Umami is a distinct, difficult to describe flavor caused by the interaction of glutamates, a naturally occurring amino acid, with receptors on the tongue. Some people call umami âÂÂthe fifth taste,â as it is distinctly not sweet, sour, hot, or salty. In addition to having a unique standalone flavor, umami appears to enhance foods it is combined with, making other flavors richer and more intense. The concept of umami is ancient, although the official term is relatively recent.

Every time someone puts ketchup on fries, they are using the principle of umami. Both potatoes and tomatoes have high amounts of free glutamates, which interact with each other to create a distinctive flavor. Other foods with an abundance of free glutamates include seafood, shiitake mushrooms, meats, carrots, and seaweed, among many others. Many of these foods have been traditionally paired to enhance their natural umami flavor.

The discovery of umami is credited to Kikunae Ikeda, a researcher at Tokyo Imperial University. Ikeda was researching the unique flavor of seaweed broth when he isolated a distinctive compound which he identified as umami, or savory, since it did not fit with the other four identified tastes. Ultimately, he managed to separate a unique white powder with a crystalline structure, which came to be known as Monosodium Glutamate, or MSG. Ikeda's discovery paved the way to many developments in food science, and to a restructuring in the way people though about taste.

In addition to modern day examples of umami, the flavor has also been harnessed historically. It appears in high concentration in cured and fermented foods, such as the Roman garum and an assortment of traditionally fermented Asian sauces such as soy sauce and fish sauce. Umami has classically been used as a condiment, to enhance the flavor in other foods, bringing out their natural umami.
Related topics
Umami
List of Foods with Iron
Umami Receptors
Diabetic Foods
Low Fat Foods
Umami Taste Receptor
Health Foods

There has been some controversy over umami. Some people believe that it is not, in fact, a distinct flavor, and wish that it was not classified as the fifth taste. Others have historically had concerns about glutamates, MSG in particular, claiming that the compounds have deleterious health effects. Especially in the West, the concept of umami was not as readily adopted as it was in Asia, as is reflected by the lack of an English word for the taste. However, Western chefs have slowly embraced the concept, designing dishes which harness the power of umami, whether it is truly a distinct taste or simply a subset of another.

I also think the dish was probably lacking in umami. Skinless, boneless chicken breasts are bland, IMO. I think they are best used in a preparation dominated by the flavor of other ingredients. For a dish where good chicken flavor is the goal, I would use thighs or whole or cut up chicken with bones and skin left on.

Jim

A teaspoon of chicken base - Better than Bouillon, for example, will also supply the umami.

Fresh Garlic and a sprig or two of Thyme

I know this is cheating. But sometimes you just need to do something quick.

When I make Ramen noodles, I don't use the flavor pack that comes with it. I use real chicken stock. I keep the flavor pack for something else.

If you add half of a pack of that flavor pack in your recipe, you will be surprised the drastic difference in the outcome.

dcarch

Browned bacon in lieu of the olive oil. Just my opinion.

Pam,

Your mention of Worcestershire sauce and, later, soy sauce, got me thinking about those flavors.

One of the ingredients in Worcestershire sauce is anchovies. Anchovies would provide umami just as Asian fermented fish sauce (nuoc mam) does. However, Worcestershire has a lot of vinegar and some sharper spice flavors which I would not think helpful in you chicken dish. Nuoc mam, used sparingly so as not to intrude on the other flavors, might work.

Soy sauce provides umami also. A bit of soy sauce, not enough to be separately identifiable in the taste of the dish, might be the answer you are seeking.

Also, I sometimes set aside those flavor packets from ramen noodles, just as dcarch does, and put them to use in other dishes as he does.

Jim

Aren't those flavor packets packed with salt? Do they also contain MSG? I really don't know as I don't buy them. I won't say I've never eaten ramen, I have. Filling, cheap, gratifying stuff! But what's in the packets?

"But what's in the packets?"

It's best not to know. LOL!

BTW, there are various grades of instant Asian noodles. The really cheap ones found in supermarkets are pretty marginal food. At a good Asian food store however, you can find some more expensive ones which are quite good and contain a more generous portion. Add a couple of garnishes and you have a nice, quick meal. One of my favorites is a Japanese noodle which is served chilled. There is no broth. The flavor packets contain wasabi and vinegar.

Jim

Ask a simple question -- get an education! Thanks everyone.