- a frying pan and a baking dish
- tongs
- a meat thermometer or a metal fork
- salt and pepper
- Cajun spice mix (optional)
- olive oil
- a bone-in, skin-on chicken breast
recipes:
The Basics
From the store to the kitchen to the table: We outline the steps that get you from something raw to something cooked using simple ingredients, free of measurements and complicated techniques. A method that you can have in your back pocket and whip out whenever you like. We call it recipe-free cooking.
Illustrations by Bill Russell
Though I've been hot-oven roasting whole chickens for a long time, I never considered using a similar technique for breasts. Thanks, Chow, for giving me a new way to prepare an old standby. Keep these recipe-free instructions coming, please.
Now that's a weeknight meal. I like to cook baby carrots glazed in chicken stock, butter, salt, and pepper as a quick and easy side dish to pan fried or baked chicken breasts. It takes about 20 minutes for the chicken stock to reduce to a glaze -- about the same time it takes for the chicken breast to cook -- and is a quick and elegant side.
I like the idea for these non-recipes; they'll give fledgling cooks more confidence to just get on with it and cook.
However, the layout and graphics are illl-suited to the concept. If it's so uncomplicated, why do I have to click& scroll 6 itmes just to see how easy it is? That's just counter-intuitive. Poor idea.
To Toodie Jane: All you have to do is click on that little line that says "view all steps at once"...or print pdf. See, it all makes sense..it's YOU that's making it complicated!
sorry, but the 'view all steps' should be the default, not a choice.
This is great technique that may be used for any kind of meat or fish. The trick is to use an oven-proof pan so you get a good sear on the second side when it's in the oven.
I use it to cook filet mignon and salmon. All the filet needs is a sprinkle of salt and crushed pepper corns, but for the salmon, I use a mixture of salt/paprika/cumin. Or you could just sprinkle salt on the salmon and serve with a lemon/butter/white wine/caper sauce.
Experiment!
Isn't this concept the same as a recipe? I don't get it.
I agree. Should have all the steps in one window. I do like the PDF printout tho!
clicking once isn't such a hardship. some people like seeing one step at a time. this is set up that it can be done however you prefer
How do you "make a sauce by deglazing the pan"?
yeah, i would like a quick idea for a nice finishing sauce since there would be some brown bits from the pan, no?
would you recommend a cast-iron skillet for this cooking method?
I found all steps on 1 page but is there any way to adjust this to making 4-6 chicken breasts? (ok I am lazy and don't want to do the math, plus one is not enough for me!)
Click on "bonus sauce." 4-6 breasts cook exactly the same as 1. You just might need a larger oven proof pan. I'm fixing this tonight and looking forward to it. Also emailed it to an 84 y.o. friend who's trying to keep it simple these days.
sugarsnapp, the first time I tried this (last week) I couldn't find bone-in breasts at the grocery store. So I bought a whole, cut-up chicken, I froze half of the chicken and cooked the rest. I used one breast, one thigh, one drumstick and one wing. It all fit in my cast iron skillet. The wing cooked much quicker than the rest, so that was a little snack for me before dinner.
The sauce was really easy to make. I usually grill chicken (and pretty much everything else), but this was a nice alternative to grilling - simple to make and very tasty.
This is one of the simplest and best bone-in breast recipes ever. I loved it. I used my ovenproof saute pan but that would only hold two breasts (they were really large). I also want to do 4-6 in the future. The original recipe says you can use a baking dish. I suppose I could do 2-3 pieces in non-ovenproof saute pans and then put them into a preheated baking dish. Have others tried that?
I tried this tonight and it was terrible. The chicken took more like 30 minutes to cook and yes I did preheat the oven. The texture was rubbery and it did not taste good at all.
I'm so surprised by this, umka :( I've fixed this several times and it was great. And have told olthers about it and they had good results also. Poor you.
I just tried this tonight and it was fabulous!!! I seasoned with kosher salt, coarse garlic salt/parsley blend, and pepper. After I brought the chicken out of the oven, I squeezed half of a lemon over the top and let it rest. The skin was crispy (although I don't eat that part) and it looked, smelled, and tasted terrific. Next time I will try the sauce.
Thanks Chow!
I think this is an ingenius way to make bone in chicken breasts......I have been cooking for 50 yrs.....I always just salt/pepper, & bake @ 400 for 30 minutes. I must admit, mine come out crisper.....however, this allows for a nice rich au jus to make a sauce, the chicken turns out juicier, & it's all done in a frypan. This is my new method! Thanks for teaching an old dog new tricks!
I have a question about the bonus sauce. It says to use the pan that you just cooked the chicken in, but what if you transfered the chicken to a baking pan? Do you use the original pan that you only used for a few minutes, or do you pour the juices from the baking pan when it is all done cooking into the stovetop pan to make the sauce? I am not a cook at all and this is all new to me. Thanks :-)
Reshadar, when you take the baking pan out of the oven, add a small amount of either water or white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping any browned bits down & then add that to your fry pan. Turn the fry pan on low & simmer, using that liquid to scrape the bits off the bottom. Using a fork & a cup, take about 2 tbls. of butter & mash it up with about 2 tbls. of flour. Using the fork, whisk that flour mixture into the simmering fry pan liquid until it thickens slightly. Season if you like & pour over chicken. Remember, the amount of au jus, juice, or gravy you will get is dependent on how much chicken you are making. You will not get a gravy boat full. Hope this helps you........I'm not a chef, just a good home cook. Good luck! Bon Appetit!
Oops! Reshadar, in addition to either water or wine, you could also use chicken broth to deglaze.
This looks great, and is exactly what I looking for. Thanks so much!
Jackie... Help me here because I'm totally confused by this thread. First of all, doesn't everyone roast/bake chicken this way: Brown the skin and toss it in the oven? Other than fried on the stove top, I don't know any other way. You said this is your new method, yet your method seems exactly the same to me. What am I not getting? Thanks. :)
I'm not Jackie but No, I did not know this was how to roast chicken the best way and I have cooked a lot of chicken (and other foods) but then, this isn't the Expert Cooking section... or is it? So maybe you just don't get it ;)
Anyway, That was wonderful chicken. Yum. It was nearly as good as fried chicken without all the bother. My new way to cook chicken too. I use a cast iron skillet making it an easier cleaning meal also :)
Thanks!
Hey JudiMorrison, I believe the difference is that Jackie wasn't browning them on the stove first, as she doesn't mention any stove action in her 'old dog' method. As an aside to Jackie, it turns out that "searing results in a greater net loss of moisture versus cooking to the same internal temperature without first searing" so I believe the actual chicken will be less moist, but that just leaves more yummy juices for the sauce, I figure it all works out.
Thank you, sebatianval, for the kind response. You got what I was asking. I appreciate it.
I have cooked the same basic meals for years. I am not a great cook, but I love great food so I eat out alot. With today's economy I have decided I need to learn to cook. I have tried a few recipes latetly, some good, some bad. I cooked this dish tonight and it was excellent! I followed the instructions with no changes. The chicken was moist and the sauce very tasty. The best part - it was very easy and didn't take long to cook. The breasts I cooked were big so I did cook them longer to be sure they were done.
This was good but it dirtied my oven almost as much as roasting a whole chicken at high heat does.
"sorry, but the 'view all steps' should be the default, not a choice."
I agree!
Also I agree that this "non-recipe" step-by-step is a great idea.
However, I need help with this statement: "Heat a frying pan over high heat for a few minutes. If it gets too hot and starts to smoke, take it off the stove to cool a bit."
Why would a dry frying pan (other than seasoned cast iron) smoke?
Sorry Judi........I am usually very compulsive in responding to a bloggers question! Brit0ny is correct, I just usually salt & pepper [sometimes, not always, oil it as well] and just bake my chicken. Like I said, by skipping Chow's searing on the stovetop in a frypan first method my chicken comes out very crispy crusted as if my hubby grilled it outside, or like Church's or Popeye's chicken. However, the Chow method, to me, is more like roasting, rather than my baking method, and if affords you the chance to enjoy some au jus as a result or perhaps to make a gravy at the end. I guess it's just a choice of whether you want roasted chicken, or chicken that resembles having been on an outdoor grill.
A few days ago I watched TV cook Tylor Florence put an aluminum-covered brick on a chicken, skin down, before searing and finishing in the oven. I don't eat the skin, but according to Tylor, it makes the skin ultra crispy and forces out the fat. Has anyone here tried that?