Chicken Paillard with Fresh Peaches and Blue Cheese

Adapted from Tyler Florence: Tyler’s Ultimate: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Anytime

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Vinaigrette:

•     3 tablespoons honey
•     1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
•     1 shallot, chopped
•     1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
•     Juice of 1/2 lemon
•     1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
•     kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the chicken:

•     4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
•     kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
•     1/2 pound pancetta
•     Extra-virgin olive oil
•     1/4 pound blue cheese, broken into hunks
•     1 bunch of arugula, trimmed
•     4 small fresh peaches, quartered (you can use a variety of fruit--figs, nectarines, peaches)
•     Tarragon leaves, for garnish

Instructions

Step 1: First whisk together all of the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a small bowl and set it aside.

Step 2: Sandwich the chicken breasts between 2 layers of plastic wrap and pound them very thin with the side of a meat cleaver or a rolling pin. Remove the chicken breasts from the plastic and season well on both sides with salt and pepper.

Step 3: Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Unroll the pancetta so it looks like big strips of bacon. Add it to the pan and fry it like a tangle of bacon until the fat is rendered, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Step 4: Drizzle a 2-count of olive oil into the pan with the pancetta drippings. Add the chicken and pan fry 3 to 4 minutes on each side to brown the breasts and cook them through.

Step 5: Use a spatula to remove the chicken to the paper towels with the pancetta.

Step 6: Add the vinaigrette to the saute pan and heat for a few minutes, stirring, to deglaze the bits of pancetta and chicken from the bottom of the pan; take the pan off the heat.

Step 7: To serve, arrange the chicken on a platter. Scatter the blue cheese, arugula, peaches, and pancetta over. Drizzle the dressing over everything and garnish with the tarragon leaves.