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Adventures in cooking: Chicken breast
Feb. 8th, 2011 09:13 pmLast week, whole chicken was on sale at my local grocery store for 99 cents a pound. I don't usually buy meat (mostly due to the price), but this was too good to pass up. We bought two whole chickens for about $5.50. Now, obviously Marc and I can't eat two whole chickens before they go bad, so I turned to the mighty knowledge of the Internet to tell me how to cut up a chicken. I wound up with sixteen chicken pieces (eight per chicken), all of which I froze except for two chicken breasts that Marc and I were going to eat that evening.
Well, one thing led to another, and Marc and I weren't able to eat the chicken on Friday. Or Saturday. Or Sunday, or yesterday. So now it's Tuesday, and I figured I really should cook the chicken breasts before went bad. Problem: I wasn't in the mood to do anything fancy, and (impossible as it is to believe) I've never cooked just plain chicken breasts before. Even after I figured out how to debone them (worked better on the second piece than the first, but overall a success), I still had no idea what the heck to do with them. What was a fast, easy, and efficient way to cook chicken breasts?
Coincidentally, the Internet dropped the answer into my lap this afternoon in the form of a blog post from The Kitchn. The method is extremely simple: pound the big ends until the pieces are about even, dredge in flour with some salt and pepper. Heat pan to medium-high and add some butter and olive oil. Allow to melt, reduce heat to medium, and add the chicken. Cook for one minute. Flip. Cover and turn the heat to low. Do not peek! Cook for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and cook for another ten minutes. And that's it.
It turned out surprisingly moist and tasty. This would make excellent meat to go on a chicken salad or as fillings for a wrap or something. Definitely going to remember this method!
(Though, for future reference, I'd be happy to hear other peoples' tips and tricks for chicken cooking.)
Well, one thing led to another, and Marc and I weren't able to eat the chicken on Friday. Or Saturday. Or Sunday, or yesterday. So now it's Tuesday, and I figured I really should cook the chicken breasts before went bad. Problem: I wasn't in the mood to do anything fancy, and (impossible as it is to believe) I've never cooked just plain chicken breasts before. Even after I figured out how to debone them (worked better on the second piece than the first, but overall a success), I still had no idea what the heck to do with them. What was a fast, easy, and efficient way to cook chicken breasts?
Coincidentally, the Internet dropped the answer into my lap this afternoon in the form of a blog post from The Kitchn. The method is extremely simple: pound the big ends until the pieces are about even, dredge in flour with some salt and pepper. Heat pan to medium-high and add some butter and olive oil. Allow to melt, reduce heat to medium, and add the chicken. Cook for one minute. Flip. Cover and turn the heat to low. Do not peek! Cook for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and cook for another ten minutes. And that's it.
It turned out surprisingly moist and tasty. This would make excellent meat to go on a chicken salad or as fillings for a wrap or something. Definitely going to remember this method!
(Though, for future reference, I'd be happy to hear other peoples' tips and tricks for chicken cooking.)
