Maple-Ginger Glazed Chicken with Pecan & Thyme Couscous

Mmm, yummy chicken (and I hate chicken!)

Guess what? This recipe morphed from my Rosemary Tuscan Chicken that I've tried to make at least 4 different times. I give up. This is probably way tastier, anyway.

I'm still working out the kinks, though. This is only a first draft.

Ingredients:

1/4c maple syrup
2T balsamic vinegar

2T grated fresh ginger
1t cayenne pepper
1T fresh thyme

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts(about 11/2 pounds)
salt and pepper
1T vegetable oil
1T cold butter

• 3/4c cous-cous
• 1c water
• 1T butter
• 1T olive oil
  
• 1/4 chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic
  
• 1/4c chopped pecans
  
• 1T fresh thyme
• 1T balsamic vinegar
  

Directions

Heat olive oil in sautee pan until it shimmers. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add minced garlic, being careful not to brown. Take off heat and set aside with raisins and thyme.

Combine syrup, vinegar, ginger, cayenne, and thyme in small bowl and set aside. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large non-stick skillet over med-high heat until just smoking. Cook chicken till golden brown, about 2 minutes a side.
Reduce heat to med-low and add syrup mixture to skillet. Simmer, turning chicken once or twice to coat, until glaze is slightly thickened and chicken is cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring water to boil in a pot. Add cous-cous and butter. Cover and let sit 5 minutes. When the cous-cous is cooked, add onion, garlic, raisins and thyme. Fluff. Drizzle balsamic vinegar and mix well.
When maple-ginger sauce has reduced it will be bubbling aggressively but still coat a spoon (keep an eye on it so it doesn't reduce too much). Add cold pat of butter to pan and melt through. Serve chicken over cous-cous with sauce poured over top.

I've revised the original recipe because Anthony and I found it to be WAY too sweet. You may run into the same problem. We'll see how round 2 goes later.