Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Restaurant style chicken breasts -

Cooking chicken breasts was something I wanted to be good at (like a lot of things in life) and something I hadn't mastered (also MANY things in life - like ever having cash, making my hair look nice consistently, or picking up my shoes around the house). 

I am sure many of you rock chicken breasts, but for me they always came out tough or under done when baked, and there was no point in grilling them because, for details I won't bore you with, I wasn't good at it.

One day after giving up on becoming a senator or even changing out of my pj's I decided to learn how to grill chicken - and I did.  Now I am a grilling fool and as chicken breasts are better for me than my favorite - chicken thighs - and much better for me than Five Guys, I am sure Joe and I are already healthier.

I have streamlined a couple of these steps because when I often read recipes they use like 27 million pans and bowls and stuff - and I have other interests than washing 4 pans a night.

Here is what  I do -

1) Pull out chicken breasts in the a.m. and leave them wrapped in my sink. I buy the BOX of organic chicken breasts at Publix or Walmart. 


Oh chicken in a box - how I love you and don't question the boxness of it all.

2) Once defrosted I lay them on a big cutting board and pound both sides so they are about the same width through out and kind of soften up - this is the messiest part - but worth it. 


This photo is blurry - sorry.


3) Then I clean some dishes somewhere (there is always something to wash) which warms up my tap water and I put some hot water in a glass dish that will hold the breasts.  I sprinkle salt - some, I don't know how much, and I open up 2 Truvia packages of sugar and sprinkle that in, swish it around with my finger and let dissolve. Then I lay the chick breasts in and set the timer on my microwave for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.



Chicken bath - what a fascinating photo

4) When they are done soaking I heat up a pan -I have a grill pan that I like, but also is problematic so sometimes I just use my huge skillet.  By the way - I grill many breasts at a time -a post about batch chicken here.

5) The grill needs to be hot - so I put on medium high - with Smart Balance cooking spray and wait for it to get hot.  Then I yank the breasts out, put them in the skillet, set the timer for 4-6 minutes and then flip to the other side for the same time. 


6) I usually pull one off and cut in half to make sure they are cooked through.


Hooray for cooked meat.
7) these chicken breasts turn out evenly cooked, juicy and flavorful - great on their own, on a salad, shredded for tacos (you know I have a taco problem right?), etc.  They are actually good - not rubbery or dry like my chicken breasts in the past.

I wrote a post about "batch cooking"  also - so when you combine this tactic with cooking in bulk, hours and hours are saved and good food is the result. I think I hear harp music.

So I may fail in some areas, but I have conquered the heck out of cooking chicken breasts. As a Tired Girl it's vital to have healthy food ready to go.

What is something you taught yourself how to do?

I would rather eat these  than chiken breast by the way, but whatever.






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