Search This Blog

Thursday, July 9, 2015

The Most Amazing Chicken Recipe Ever

Before I get into the story of how I came to write this blog, I just have to share the most amazing and simple way to cook chicken breasts that will literally cause you to experience orgasms at the dinner table. The secret? salt, pepper, flour, a little butter and olive oil and very intense heat.

You take your chicken breasts, and lightly sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides. Then coat the breasts in flour. Then you heat 1.5 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat until the butter is both fragrant and a nut-brown colour, i.e just before it burns. Then add 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil. This is critical because doing so will prevent the butter from burning by lowering the smoking point.

Then add the breasts to the pan tenderloin side down and cook for 4 minutes exactly. Time it if you have to, but don't go over that. Trust me, it will cook thoroughly by the time you are done. Make sure that the oil and butter does not burn. You may have to reduce the heat slightly. I use a gas stove, so my medium-high was about a 5 out of 7 and I turned it down to 4.

When the four minutes is up turn them over and cook for another 4 minutes. Remove them to a plate and then decide what sauce you want to make to go on them. Although you will find the basic breasts so succulent and flavourful just like this that the breast may not make it to the table!

I decided to do an Italian lemon-caper sauce. For that, you need:

2-3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons drained capers
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (2 lemons should yield this)
1/2 cup of minced shallots
1 cup chicken broth or stock

When the chicken is cooked, you add the shallots to the pan and fry them for about a minute to soften them. Then you add the stock and using a wooden spoon, scrape the bottom of the pan to dissolve the brown bits that were created from cooking the chicken. Then add the lemon juice and capers. You want to reduce this mixture until it is about 1/3 cup, which will take about 10-15 minutes, so you will need to keep the chicken breasts warm in a very low oven (150-200F) while you are waiting for the sauce to reduce. When it is reduced, turn off the heat and swirl in the butter. Spoon over the chicken breasts and enjoy!

The heat is what is critical. If it is too low, the chicken will become tough and dry out. This is why having a good quality, unwarped frying pan is important.

No comments:

Post a Comment