Friday, February 5, 2016

Pan-Roasted Chicken Breast

pan-roasted chicken boxes

I learned this technique from The Kitchn's How To Cook Moist & Tender Chicken Breasts Every Time combined with some other reading I've been doing about sous-vide cooking. The basic idea is to cook low and slow to keep the chicken juicy, and obviously the brining also helps. Idk about that initial minute over high heat, it's supposed to be making the chicken golden—but it doesn't, nothing gold can stay after twenty minutes of basically poaching. This chicken isn't much to look at, which is why I have it pictured in boxes, but I've never been a white meat fan—too dry—and I do like this, it's not dry at all.

1/4 cup kosher salt
1 quart water
boneless, skinless chicken breasts, mine come three to a package
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons coconut oil

First, stir the kosher salt into the quart of water (hint: mason jar). Put the chicken breasts into a shallow dish and cover with salt water to brine for at least fifteen minutes.

When you're ready to cook them, take the chicken breasts out of the brine and pat them dry. Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness with a small saucepan, then season them with salt and pepper.

Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the coconut oil and swirl the pan until it's evenly coated with oil.

Place the chicken breasts in the oil and cook for 1 minute without moving, then flip them over. [This part never super works for me and I'm inclined to skip it, brb. ETA: ROIGHT. Do not flip.]

Turn the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook for 10 minutes. [Now uncover and flip.] Then turn the heat off and let it sit covered for another 10 minutes.

Slice the chicken and put in the fridge in containers.

For winter lunches, I reheat the chicken in creamed veg soup. For summer lunches I might try it in salad, like they do at Just Salads.