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Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Recipe Wednesday: Method to the Madness

Chicken is probably the dinner ingredient I use the most often. I have so many yummy chicken recipes in my menu rotation that all use one of two EASY methods to get my chicken perfectly cooked.

The two methods are: Poaching and Faux-Grilling

After you have cooked your chicken using one of these two methods, there are so many ways to use it for super quick and easy recipes. Some of my favorites are, baked chicken tacos, burritos, chicken salad, Caesar salad, orange chicken sandwiches, buffalo chicken salad...recipes coming soon!!!

Here are the two extremely easy methods:

Poaching
I love this method because you poach IN THE CROCKPOT!! I especially love it in the summer when I don't want to get anywhere near the stove!

- Place uncooked chicken breasts in a crock pot (I typically do 4 at a time and use them for at least 2 different recipes)


- Fill the crock pot with just enough water to just cover the chicken. This is also a good time to use up the little bit of extra chicken stock you have sitting in the fridge waiting to go bad!! :)  Also, I don't use any salt or other seasoning so I can season it however I need to later.

- Cook on low for 4-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours until the chicken in fork tender and shreds easily.

- Shred chicken with two forks and store in an airtight container until you are ready to use it! Done!



Faux-Grilling
This method requires the stove but it's really easy, too!

- POUND OUT chicken breasts until they are an even thickness. I ALWAYS ALWAYS do this--it's hard to get an evenly cooked chicken breast if you skip this step. The thick part takes so much more time to cook, so you end up with one side cooked and one side dry. Not good. Plus, pounding out the chicken cuts the cooking time way down.

- Coat a grill pan or iron skillet with olive oil, season chicken with whatever seasonings you like. For a "base" I just use salt and pepper--then I can season it later however I need to. (of course, at this point you can always throw the chicken on the "real" BBQ grill, too!)

- Cook chicken for at least 2-3 minutes on the first side OR until the side is golden brown. Do not flip or touch the chicken until this happens. Flip and cook on the other side for another 2-3 minutes or until cooked through.

From these two methods, sky's the limit on recipes you can use them for! Stay tuned for my faves!

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