What's Your "Go To" Chicken Breast Recipe?

My cooking style usually involves a nice bloody piece of red meat: Beef, lamb, duck etc… cooked nice and rare. The focus tonight is on “Healthy” so out come the boneless skinless chicken breasts. I was wondering what your “go to” recipe would be in this instance? We have to leave out pasta and cream and the wife does not like cooked tomatoes. Yikes! We had skewers last night so that’s out.

Tell, er, show me eating healthy doesn’t suck. Please.

A version of “Shake an Bake” !!

I use corn flakes… and then bake!!

Eh, there’s lots of things you can do. With boneless, skinless breasts, the thing to remember is that they won’t have a lot of flavor, so you need to provide that. Three ways to do that - a rub, with sauce, or by putting something inside them.

For a rub, slice in half lengthwise so they are 1/2 thickness, brine for an hour or 2. Remove, dry, rub with your fave rub (don’t forget curries and 5 spice mixes as well as traditional BBQ rubs), grill.

Simple things like a pan sauce are easy - cook the breasts until done (if they’re thick, cut in half so each breast gives up two pieces that are 1/2 the thickness). Then deglaze with white wine, add seasoning, add, say, mustard. Or chutney. Or deglaze with marsala and reduce. Add a little butter and it will add texture. You’re basically getting the brown bits from sauteeing the breasts, then adding flavor. Whether that flavor is thai curry, chutney, mustard or marsala is up to you.

The other apporach is to wrap the chicken around the flavor. For three great ideas on that, see Mark Bittman’s latest here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/dining/18mini.html?_r=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Cooking isn’t hard you just need to consider the flavors you want. Add in various fish and shellfish and cooking without red meat is easy (though I see nothing wrong with red meat. It just gets boring, like any one thing, after a bit.)

Do you have a sous vide machine? A low fat method that really brings out what little flavor you have in chicken breasts.

The other (now that I’m on a diet and breading and frying are out) thing that works is a simple stir fry. Cut them up, marinate with whatever you like (even basic soy sauce will add flavor) and saute in olive oil with asparagus or whatever you have on hand that seems tl make sense.

We eat boneless skinless chicken breasts at least once a week. Sometimes saltimboca with prosciutto, or with spanish paprika and port wine pan sauce. Current favorite is pan seared with sauteed mushroom pan sauce with shallots, tarragon finished with chicken stock and veal demi-glaze. Mike

Often the outside of a b-s chicken breast is overcooked by the time the center is done. So I tend to slice them in half, as Rick does, but I do it after they are partly cooked. I flip the whole breast a bit earlier than if trying to cook it all the way through, and remove it with tongs as soon as both outside surfaces are cooked. Holding the breast edge-up with the tongs, I slice it in half parallel to the flat cooked surfaces, exposing the pink, uncooked interior. It then returns to the pan uncooked sides down and in a very short time it is done.

If the breasts are not thick, a decent prep is to wrap them in very thin slices of proscuitto (domestic imitation ok for this), saute in a small amount of butter and/or evoo, and deglaze the pan with a bit of white wine after they are done.

By the way, if you’re looking for tasty, healthy cooking, do check out Bittman’s columns in the NYT. They’re almost always quick to make, generally use ingredients that you’ll have or that are easily available and not technique-laden tomes of 15 ingredients assembled in 25 steps.

I’m of the opinion that for daily cooking all you really need are 10-20 basic recipes that you vary with new or seasonal ingredients. That will give you 20-30 dishes and the style will vary over time (more grilling now, less in the winter, but more braises and stews then).

Salt breast and slice carefully down each breast then stuff with fresh blanched baby spinach, & chopped fontina cheese, toothpick closed, flour and saute in olive oil and butter until browned, then deglaze with white wine or dry Vermouth, add some homemade chicken stock, salt and pepper (I like tarragon) then baby artichoke hearts, halved. Simmer for 40 minutes. Nice with white rice or lumpy mashed. Sometimes I add a splash of fresh lemon juice at the end.

or similar but cut to cutlets, top with a slice of fontina and prosciutto with a sage leaf to each, flour and sauté, deglaze and add stock. Simmer for 30. (Saltimbocca).

The most flexible piece of meat on earth…

He’s on Facebook too, and posts lots of extra stuff there.

Oh cool, didn’t realize that Melissa. Thanks!

By the way, when I say above ‘put something inside’ dont’ forget that if you slice them lengthwise you can then pound them out, coat one side with ‘filling’ and fold or roll that piece. Bittman does that in one of the recipes in the link above.

Other thing is not to overlook dark meat from the chicken. When I make curries etc I use thigh meat and it’s much better than white meat for the purpose.

Rick is right. That blandness is an opportunity. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are a blank canvas that can take most color. I just went to a lab party at John Shield’s restuarant in Baltimore and enjoyed grilled boneless, skinless chicken with 5-spice powder. Very flavorful. A few my favorites at home are romanesca sauce (see http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/28/food/fo-saucier28/3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ), pesto with gnocchi kalamatas sundried tomatoes and feta, various Indian dishes, satays, and kung pao chicken.

Vongerichten & Bittman have two series of recipes in Simpe to Spectacular that use boneless skinless chicken. This book takes one theme and gives about four recipes of increasing complexity. One series involves chicken chunks in sauces, another takes boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cooks them en papillote with aluminum foil taking the place of parchment paper. This is worth having a look at the library, if not buying outright.

Lots of choices; here’s just one. Brine the chicken breasts in salt water for an hour. Drain; pat dry.

Brush breasts with dijon mustard, then add fresh black pepper and a dash of Worstershire sauce. Put in a plastic bag and add some lemon juice. Let it marinate in the fridge for at least a few hours.

Then either bake or grill.

Bruce

Regardless of the flavor added, the most important thing is to not over cook the meat.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ruined CB by overcooking. My favorite two ways have more to do with cutting CB than flavoring CB. Slicing the breast in to horizontally or into strips that get folded onto skewers and grilled. Both keep the meat somewhat thin and quick cooking which is my preference. Seasoning can be anything from Greek to Asian…
Just don’t overcook it!

Thanks for all the ideas.

I’ve decided to go with a southwestern spice rub then grill and slice for tacos. I’m using white corn,wheat flour and green chile tortillas. Also have some black beans and queso fresca. I made some pico de gallo of white onion, fresh romas, jalapenos, white corn, garlic, cilantro, fresh lime juice, kosher salt and tequila.

Been cooking so much red meat lately I forgot how to do chicken. I’ll surely take the suggestions here and put them to good use in the coming weeks.

On a side note it’s "Wings Over Wine Country" weekend and I have fighter jets, bombers, WWI and WWII aircraft buzzing the house today. Real hard to keep concentrated on dinner prep.

Cool pics!

Only thingk I’d said is to slice them lengthwise so they cook through but don’t dry out. That tacos recipe sounds great.

Second the do not overcook thought. I really like mustard with chicken breast, esp dijon and chinese hot. It is great as a sauce base, or as a coating to flavor and seal in moisture. I eat a lot of it and I find that mustard or vinegars can give flavor without using mayo, cheese, or cream to make it interesting. I also like onion, caper, or olives to give some impact.

My healthiest & easiest chic breast… Buy the Living Healthy precooked chic strips or Cook raw chic breasts partially on the char broiler and the slice them lengthwise. In a pan saute w/ minimum amount of EVOO, tri colored bell peppers, onions and roasted garlic, add sliced chic breasts, with the pre-cooked, this takes about 12 minutes. No salt or seasoning at all, the flavors from everything else is enough.
Served with a big pile of steamed veggies. If you want a starch, you can spoon the chic over pasta or serve pasta w/ a little roasted garlic & freshly grated parmesan on the side.

My other fav. Make bread crumbs out of your favorite sourdough french bread. Lightly pound the chix breasts,spread Napa Valley Hot Sweet Mustard on the Chic Breasts and roll them in the bread crumbs. If you can add fresh ground pepper or herbs to the bread crumbs. Bake til done, bread crumbs look crunchy (about 35 minutes @ 350 but I have a commercial oven, may be different with others) .
While that is baking, in a saucepan I put chic broth or chix base (not much because it’s salty) diluted w/water, Hot Sweet Honey Mustard, a little white wine, sometimes add a touch of liquid mesquite, thicken with a bit of corn starch, serve on the side. With steamed veggies
and sometimes a starch.

SALTY, even with the low sodium soy it’s too salty

Who the hell is Jose ? You obviously are not talkin’ to me but I’ll respond anyway
I love stir fry and eat chic a million ways but I avoid the salt because I’m hypertensive. Imagine
the WWOTW with high blood pressure .

My go-to chicken recipe is not buying them and getting legs instead. I always say I wish chickens were all leg and no breast, and women just the opposite.