Tell me how to cook chicken

[Effie]

I'm serious. I can bake it, saute it, grill it, etc., but it never tastes good like it does when I order it at a restaurant. I'm not looking for recipes so much as I'm looking for technique. Do you cut the chicken before cooking, or cook then cut? Do you cover it, wrap it, smother it? Do you cook it hot & fast, or slow & steady?

I think too many years of eating dry grilled chicken has ruined me.

[Richard6310]

Good question. At one time i was buying chicken strips, and putting them on george forman grill, and it just wasnt appetizing(sp?) to me, too dry. When i started atkins, being a newbie at cooking, I resorted to chicken in a can for chicken salads.

[earlychildhoodeducator]

Try putting a boneless skinless chicken breast in a zip lock bag. Pound it flat with something heavy, Put a little cooking oil in a frying pan over med to high and slap the chicken down. Season as desired, then cover the pan with a lid and let it grill for 4-6 minutes or until golden brown on the side down. Flip and repeat. Turn the fire off, leave the lid on and let sit for a few minutes. I used to do it with out the lid, it was always so dry! Use the lid, it comes out so juicy and yummy over a salad, mixed with mayo and celery or just striaght out of the pan. hope that helps?

[earlychildhoodeducator]

wait i have one more.... Tonight I maridated boneless, skinless chicken breats in lemon juice (left the lemon wedges in the bag) a dash of Soy sause, minced garlic and 1 drop of liquid smoke. threw it all together in a zip lock (notice a pattern?) Let it sit in the fridge all day. I chopped it in square chunks, stuck it on wood scwers (soaked in water so they don't catch fire) Added some onions, mushrooms and bell peppers (also marinated in the same mix) put them under the broiler for a few minutes on each side and yummmmm. The kids ate them up like ice cream (low carb of course)

[Heidi3]

if you go to the recipe section there are bunch of wonderful recipes! Taking a whole chicken cutting it up and soaking it in salted water for 30 min seems to really help keep it moist...if you use boneless chicken breasts I agree they need a bit of marinating then grill them quick try this butterfly a chicken breast
( take a nice sharp chef's knife, split the breast open by slicing
three-quarters of the way through the meat, hold it firmly with the
palm of your hand, so the long straight edge of the breast forms the
hinge. Open the split breast, like a book, and place it between 2
sheets of moistened wax paper or plastic wrap. Repeat this process for
the remaining breasts)
....then put it in a zippy bag and leave for 30 min with a mix of lemon juice, garlic, salt pepper chile and olive oil...let sit out of the frig for the marinating time as long as everything is cool...I will quickly grill on the stove top grill but you can use a BBQ or under the broiler.
Deep frying is also an option for wings especially
Of course you can always make my favorite (I made it last night and the house still smells good ...curry chicken!!!! :joy :joy :joy

[Effie]

Thanks all! Marinating is definitely a good place to start, and I'll try keeping the lid on too. I'll definitely try the recipes, but sometimes I just want plain chicken to put on a salad.

[sadie147]

For chicken for salads, stirfy's and making chicken salad, I like to poach boneless skinless chicken breasts. I put 2 or 3 (i buy frozen ones in a bag at Costco) in a large pot of water, bring to a boil then turn the heat down a bit and let them simmer till cooked. from frozen that's usually about 25 mins i think. I then let them cool and keep them in the fridge. Since they're precooked they are quick and easy for salads, to toss in a stir fry etc. They are pretty bland though..since you can't put anyting on them when cooking. But i do find in a caesar it's awesome and they're not dry at all. they're also pretty good cubed in an omlette with lots of cheddar.

For chicken salad I like to cube them, then mix with chipotle mayo and lots of celery.

[MotherOfGizmo]

Along the same lines as what Sadie does, if you want to do a whole chicken to use for salads try this, its pretty fool proof!

Get a pot big enough to hold the whole chicken. Put water in it high enough to cover the chicken w/o spilling over. Bring the water to a boil.

Then plop the whole chicken in ( the water will stop boiling.) Take the chicken back out after about 2 minutes.

Bring the water to a second boil, return the chicken to the pot and bring it to a boil again, turn off the heat and put the lid on the pot. Wait 45 minutes then drain the water.

When the chicken has cooled enough to handle it will be easy to pull the meat off of the bones and it will be moist and delicious, perfect for making chicken salad or just throwing on top of a green salad!

[not2late]

Re: Tell me how to cook chicken

I'm serious. I can bake it, saute it, grill it, etc., but it never tastes good like it does when I order it at a restaurant. I'm not looking for recipes so much as I'm looking for technique. Do you cut the chicken before cooking, or cook then cut? Do you cover it, wrap it, smother it? Do you cook it hot & fast, or slow & steady?

I think too many years of eating dry grilled chicken has ruined me.

I use an instant-read meat thermometer for my meat cooking. I find this little tool to be invaluable, because I suck at cooking meat and without this gadget, my meats are either burnt or raw.

For chicken or turkey, you want the internal temperature to be 165-170.

For chicken breasts, I brine them (I brine pork chops too). Dissolve 2 teaspoons of salt in a quart of water. Soak your chicken breasts in there overnight (I usually dump them into the brine in the morning before I go to work). Remove them from the brine and rinse them. Pat them dry and grill. They will remain moist. Or I slice them and stir fry or saute them.

For chicken legs and thighs, I rinse them in water, dry them, season them with salt/pepper/herbs/spices. Put them into a baking dish and bake them at 350 degrees covered for 20 minutes, then uncovered for an additional 20 minutes. Chicken thighs and legs usually don't dry out. If you want, during the last 20 minutes you can sprinkle the thighs and legs with grated parmesan cheese (the stuff out of the can works well)---the cheese will give them an extra crispiness

For a whole roast chicken....
For a 3 pound bird, rinse and season the bird. If you want, you can cut a lemon into wedges and stuff it into the cavity. Or put in whole garlic cloves or herbs into the cavity. Put the bird in a baking dish. Rub the bird all over with a tablespoon or two of butter. Do not cover the bird with anything like foil

Set the oven rack to the middle level. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees F. Put the bird in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 425 degrees F. Cook for 20 minutes. Then turn the temperature down to 375 degrees. Cook for 40-45 minutes until the internal temperature of the breast is 165 and the temperature of the thigh is 175-180. If you find the breast is cooking faster than the thigh area, cover the breast loosely with a layer of aluminum foil, leaving the rest of the bird uncovered. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 20 minutes before serving.