chezpei.com

Trying to eat something delicious, each and every day.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Lemon Chicken and Vegetables

Easy, healthy, not too pretty dinner tonight.

Grilled chicken breast with a little lemon pepper sauce, mache, garlicky broccoli and carrots, and some rice. It's surprising how full you can get off half a chicken breast when you have this many sides.

Close up. I didn't always like chicken breast, but it's grown on me over the years. I finally applied the rule that works for tough cuts of beef: cook lightly (but thoroughly, for chicken) and slice thinly against the grain. Works wonders!

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2 Comments:

At 1/21/2010 06:10:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

That light touch looks like it created a really juicy chicken breast. yum. I always sem to over cook mine. G

 
At 1/22/2010 09:13:00 AM , Anonymous Pei said...

Thanks! It's really easy to over cook chicken breast. This is what I do:

-put chicken breast in a plastic bag or under plastic wrap. Pound with a meat mallet or rolling pin until it's about half its original thickness. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and leave in fridge (covered) until about an hour before dinner.

-take the chicken out of the fridge an hour or two before dinner and let it warm up a bit. I know, everyone's afraid of salmonella, but an hour isn't going to kill you if you bought good chicken and have a clean kitchen. Leave the chicken covered, of course.

-Heat a pan over high heat, and put just a small amount of olive oil on it. Put the chicken in the pan, and cook over high heat until the chicken looks cooked about halfway up its sides and flips over easily even on a nonstick pan. The underside should be golden brown.

-Turn the heat to just above medium and cook the second side carefully, feeling for the meat to become less jiggly and more firm when you press on it with a finger. When it has reached an internal temperature of 165 or when the outside is browned, you're done.

-Take the chicken off the heat, let it cool for two to five minutes to reabsorb its juices and finish cooking, then slice against the grain. Because of the way a chicken breast is shaped, yo may have to turn it a few times to keep slicing against the grain.

 

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