The Elusive Chicken Breast

I’ve always thought the best test of a chef is their particular ability to cook and flavor a chicken breast. Between frying, baking, searing, boiling, and slow cooking there are just so many different methods to prepare a savory chicken breast. Something so simple can be done so wrong (and so right).

Which is the best? Bonus for pictures and recipes.

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I like sous vide for chicken breast but rarely make them. I prefer grilling or baking thighs or steaming leg/thigh.

Another vote for SV, then hot surface - grill or pan. I SV with ghee and my seasonings. Just did a full breast yesterday for fajitas and it turned out great. Well, at least as great a chicken breast can turn out. It’s really just a fairly flavorless protein in need of seasoning whether that be by seasoning or batter or its own skin.

The best one I’ve had was Rose Pistola’s Chicken Under a Brick.

That’s an interesting take on things. I personally always thought that chicken breast was the last enjoyable widely available cut of meat. Its rather bland on its own so simple preparations don’t do much. I much prefer the dark meat of a chicken or just about any other fowl over the white meat breast of a chicken. But I do think that since it is such a boring piece of meat you have pretty much endless options to add sauces and preparation styles to make it taste good. Here is a terribly gluttonous but delicious preparation I like:

The Chicken:
trim and then pound chicken breast to the thickness of your pinky.
bread chicken breast in panko (typical three step process: flour, egg, panko)
Fry chicken breast in a 50/50 mixture of butter and canola oil until brown on both sides.
Set onto paper towel and set aside.
(yes, I just said to make the proverbial chicken cutlet, but oddly enough there are a LOT of people who mess this up.)

The Sauce:
heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan on med-high heat.
Peel and slice long ways 1 banana
fry banana in butter until just starting to brown
add a table spoon of brown sugar
wait for the sugar to melt into the butter and then add in a glut of cognac
when the alcohol is burned off add in a few gulgs of heavy cream
reduce until the sauce thickens

To Plate:
chicken breast on plate
top with banana pieces
pour sauce over top

The sweetness of the banana cream sauce contrasts the savory nature of the cutlet and creates a great contrast in flavors. Also - no need for dessert! If I get a stick up you know where I’ll make it this weekend and follow up with pictures at some point.

TW

We will use the bone in split chicken breasts.

Salt and pepper all sides, also use dried Italian seasonings on all sides.

Roast at 400 deg.on a wire rack above a pan.

Cook to 155, about 1 hour

Rest and remove the meat from the bone to serve

Variations of your choice but some type of buttermilk marinade, preferably overnight.

got home late last night and prepped a bag of Costco CB.
trimmed and sliced them into pallards. a generous douse of salt then coated them
with a mixture of 0% greek yogurt and curry powder. let them sit while the oven pre-heated to 425 convection.
roasted them for about 12 min then flipped the chicken and cooked till they hit 160 they were tender, juicy and flavorful (yet still BSCB)

This sounds infinitely interesting. I might try this out this week. Thanks!!

Yogurt tamarind marinade overnight then grilled spatchcock 25min skin down 10min flip.

Are we talking boneless/skinless cutlets here, or a bone in breast with the skin and first wing joint still attached?

My favorite marinade for chicken, whole (spatchcocked) or parts is:

Equal parts Vietnamese fish sauce, Usukuchi (light colored soy sauce), and Hoy Fong Chili/Garlic paste, combined with a little EVOO. Then I grill the bird over hardwood charcoal and hickory.

For boneless breasts, I marinade in harissa with a touch of honey, the grill, slice and serve on flatbread with pickled carrots and onions, mayo, and a drizzle of spicy honey. Fairly healthy weeknight wrap.