If I didn’t know better, as I look at that photo, I’d say it was staged. It’s almost too pretty looking, with the chicken, the sauce, the pile of rice, the asparagus fuzzied-up into the background. I’d have thought the blogger had found the photo online somewhere. But no, I took the photo myself. I’ve started placing captions or overlay text into the photos, including my website copyright so people don’t steal my photos. I haven’t been aware anyone’s been doing it recently, but they have in the past. I own the program Photoshop. It’s a sophisticated software program to manipulate photos. More for professionals, but I’ve been gradually learning how to use it, as it’s really very complicated. I crop and brighten pictures with ease now, and have just figured out how to fade text (like the copyright part up at the top, so it’s not so glaring, almost like a watermark). I fiddle with where to place the text. First I tried it at the top – the long recipe title – but it didn’t quite fit without part of it fading into the (dark) asparagus. So I finally put it on several lines on top of the rice. My background in the advertising agency I used to own (with a business partner) makes me very particular about how things balance. I’m not quite as adept at it in photographs, but I’m learning.
Back to the story at hand . . . a week or so ago I spent a whole lot of time miserably ensconced in my favorite chair in front of the television with my cough syrup, cough drops, refilling glasses of sparkling apple cider (my drink of choice when I’m sick) and a box of tissues nearby. I was suffering from a doozy of a bad cold. Way too many I’ve had this winter. Two of them I got from my grandson and this one my DH gave me. I tried SO hard to stay away from him. I washed my hands incessantly. But obviously it wasn’t enough, as I still got contaminated! So anyway, I watched a whole lot of TV – in fact I’ve now watched every single, solitary program I had on my Tivo queue. Now, as I’m recovering but still trying to rest a few hours every day (by sitting in front of the tv), I’m having to search for movies that I haven’t seen before; some of them so bad I couldn’t watch them all the way through.
I have watched a few good documentaries, though, including one called Ingalore. An hour long story – spoken by Ingalore, who is deaf – and Jewish – of her life in a small town in Germany at the beginning of Nazi era, to a special school for deaf children. Back then, in the late 30s, I don’t suppose they had much to offer for the deaf – in the way of education or even training for mainstreaming into society. Ingalore couldn’t speak, really, until she went away to the special school. She was a very brave woman who nearly got sent to the prison camps in WWII. Her life was harrowing. [I cried, which was the worst thing possible for someone with stuffed up sinuses!] Eventually she and her parents got out of Germany, but not without her being raped by Nazi soldiers when she was 15. This was in 1940. The family got a visa to go to Holland – where the Nazis took all of their money – but they got on a ship there. Hearing her speak of the excitement and joy at their arrival in New York, in the early morning fog, of the Statue of Liberty, was emotional. Made me cry again. She has lived a very happy life from there on, eventually marrying a German-Jewish man, also deaf. She’s 85 or so now, but as smart as a tack. And happy and proud to be an American.
Sorry I took a long bypass in my post to tell you about that documentary. In my television-watching I also viewed America’s Test Kitchen, a program I record automatically. If you don’t already do so, you should! I think it airs on Saturdays in California. Anyway, this particular program and recipe was about boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and a new way to make them. I come from the Phillis-Carey-school-of-cooking-chicken-breasts, which means that you pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness, quick sear them and then bake until they’re just barely cooked through. And then make a sauce or something to go along with them.
This ATK program, though, approached boneless, skinless chicken breasts from a totally new direction. In this method you bake the chicken first, then later sauté them to get them brown. Polar opposite of most chicken-cooking methods.
The pictures you see at left: (1) the raw chicken breasts in a glass dish, ready to start; (2) a close-up of the Kosher salt-seasoned chicken – I hadn’t yet poked the meat with the tines of a fork; and (3) just removed from the 275° oven where you can see it’s still a bit pink (looks raw, but it’s not) in the middle. The chicken looked totally yukky at this point.
Anyway, here’s a step by step: first you salt the meat, poking a fork tine in several places in the breast, then they’re baked for about 30-35 minutes. At a very low heat – 275°. That’s really low! When the time is up – and they should be at about 145-150° at that point (and they’re still slightly pink in the thicker parts). You DO have a meat thermometer handy, right? You should – you’ll be able to cook this to the perfect point. Otherwise, it’s nothing but guesswork. Is it just right? Is it raw? Or, worst yet, is it overcooked?
At this point, drain off the milky stuff and blot dry the chicken (removing some of that salt while you’re at it), then coat them with a slurry. I’d forgotten about that word in the cooking lexicon – it’s a term more often used in Chinese cuisine, I think. In this case it’s a mixture of melted butter, flour and cornstarch. Plus some pepper. This gives the chicken a coating which will brown beautifully when you sauté them.
Before I started sautéing, though, I got all my ingredients ready – that mise en place stuff. I had all the rest of the dinner mostly in place too, plates at the ready, asparagus steamed, the saffron basmati rice hot and on hold, salad only lacking a final toss with dressing.
So then I began the sear. Do not use a nonstick pan for this – you need all of the browned fond on the bottom of the pan – it adds flavor to the sauce. I coated one side only with the slurry and plopped the chicken breasts into a hot frying pan with some hot, foaming butter and seared them for 3-4 minutes. Less on the thinner breast piece and the two little tenders. Then I coated the upside with what was left of the slurry and turned the breasts over and continued to sear for another 3+ minutes. One of the chicken breasts was very thick, so I let it sear for the full 4 minutes. The chicken was removed to a plate and covered with foil to keep warm. Then I made the quick pan sauce: shallots sautéed in the oil/grease in the pan, a dash of flour, chicken broth, and lastly some fresh minced chives and a bit of butter.
Do note in this recipe that it uses Kosher salt. Did you know that Kosher salt is less salty than regular table salt? So if you were to use table salt on this instead, you’d want to use half as much. Just so you know.
Results: an absolutely perfectly cooked chicken breast, with a delicious and easy pan sauce. It’s easy to cook down the sauce too much – you start with 1 cup of chicken broth, but when you add it to a hot 12-inch skillet, it reduces in a flash! I ended up with less sauce than I wanted, so added in a little water. Which was fine, but not the ideal way of making this! I could have done several things – watched it more carefully – or better yet, turned down the heat. Or, removed the pan from the heat for 30 seconds of so before adding the broth. I just didn’t know how hot the pan was when I poured in the broth. Just be aware, that’s all. If you have an hour to spend getting dinner ready (and 30-35 minutes of that the chicken spends in the oven) you should make this for a weeknight dinner. Doing this again, I’d make more sauce. And be sure to make some kind of carb that will like the extra sauce drizzled over it. Delicious.
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Seared Chicken Breasts with Lemon Chive Pan Sauce
Recipe By: From America’s Test Kitchen, 5/2011
Serving Size: 4
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves — (6 to 8 ounces each)
2 teaspoons kosher salt — or 1 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter — melted
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
PAN SAUCE:
1 large shallot — peeled, minced
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice — fresh squeezed
1 tablespoon chives — minced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Using fork, poke thickest half of each breast 5 to 6 times; evenly sprinkle each breast with ½ teaspoon kosher salt (or ¼ teaspoon table salt). Place chicken, skinned side down, in 13 by 9-inch baking dish and cover tightly with foil. Bake until thickest part of breast registers 145 to 150 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 30 to 40 minutes.
2. Remove chicken from oven and transfer, skinned side up, to paper towel-lined plate and pat dry with paper towels to remove excess salt. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. While pan is heating, whisk butter, flour, cornstarch, and pepper together in small bowl. Lightly brush top side of chicken with half of butter mixture. Place chicken in skillet, coated side down, and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. While chicken browns, brush with remaining butter mixture. Using tongs, flip chicken, reduce heat to medium, and cook until second side is browned and thickest part of breast registers 160 to 165 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer chicken to large plate and let rest while preparing pan sauce (if not making pan sauce, let chicken rest 5 minutes before serving).
3. PAN SAUCE: To the fat in the frying pan add the minced shallot and saute for about 3-4 minutes until shallots have turned translucent. Add flour and stir for about 30 seconds until well mixed, then slowly add chicken broth.
4. Simmer sauce until it has reduced about 25% to 3/4 of a cup, about 5 minutes. Add lemon juice and chives. Using a spatula, lightly pierce the butter and swirl it in the pan until it’s dissolved completely. Serve immediately on top of chicken.
Per Serving: 253 Calories; 14g Fat (49.1% calories from fat); 28g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 92mg Cholesterol; 1018mg Sodium.
Two years ago: Snickery Squares (a delicious treat reminiscent of Snickers bars, but it’s a cookie, and a great Dorie Greenspan recipe)
Three years ago: Panna Cotta
Four years ago: Roasted Banana Ice Cream (or Gelato)
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