# Great Chicken Recipe



## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

This is from America's Test Kitchen and the chicken really turned out moist, juicy, and tasty. I tried it with bone in, skin on chicken and it worked well. Wonder if this would work for pork chops?
*
Pan-Seared ChickenBreasts*
*Serves 4
*
For the best results,buy similarly sized chicken breasts. If your breasts have the tenderloin attached, leave it in place and follow the upper range of baking time in step1. For optimal texture, sear the chicken immediately after removing it from the oven.

*4* boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each)
*2* teaspoons koshersalt or 1 teaspoon table salt
*1* tablespoon vegetable oil 
*2* tablespoons unsaltedbutter, melted
*1* tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour 
*1* teaspoon cornstarch 
*1/2* teaspoon groundblack pepper 

*1* recipe pan sauce,optional (see recipe below)

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Using fork, poke thickest half of each breast 5 to 6 times; evenly sprinkle each breast with ½ teaspoon kosher salt (or ¼ teaspoon table salt).

Place chicken, skinned side down, in 13 by 9-inch baking dish and cover tightly with foil. Bake until thickest part of breast registers 145 to 150 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 30 to 40 minutes.

Remove chicken from oven and transfer, skinned side up, to paper towel-lined plate and pat dry with paper towels.

Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. While pan is heating, whisk butter, flour, cornstarch, and pepper together in smallbowl. Lightly brush top side of chicken with half of butter mixture. Place chicken in skillet, coated side down, and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. While chicken browns, brush with remaining butter mixture.

Using tongs, flip chicken, reduce heat to medium, and cook until second side is browned and thickest part of breast registers 160 to 165 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer chicken to large plate and let rest while preparing pan sauce (if not making pan sauce, let chicken rest 5 minutes before serving).

*Lemon-Chive Sauce

*Add shallot to now empty skillet (don't cleanout pan, the fond will contribute to the flavor of the pan sauce) and saute (2 min.) Add flour and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add broth, increase heat to med. high and bring to simmer. Simmer rapidly for 3-5 minutes. Off heat, whisk in lemon juice, chives, and butter; season with salt and pepper.

Spoon over chicken and serve immediately.

*Technique
*
Flour and Cornstarch Coating

To end up with moist exteriors, our pan-seared boneless, skinless breastsneeded light protection. But slurries made with melted butter and the usual suspects-cornstarch and flour-each had issues. Cornstarch is a pure starch prone to forming a gel that left pasty spots on the meat. The proteins in flour, on the other hand, link together to form gluten, leading to an overly tough, bready coating. Using a combination of cornstarch and flour, however,created the perfect light, crisp, evenly browned coating.

The explanation is simple: Each ingredient tempers the effect of the other. With flour in the mix, the cornstarch is sufficiently diluted by protein to prevent it from forming a paste, whereas the protein is diluted enough that it doesn't cause the crust to become bready. 

*A Better Wayto Cook Boneless Chicken Breasts
*
 POKE AND SALT
Salting chicken seasons meat and keeps it moist. Poking the thicker part of the breasts ensures even seasoning.


----------



## DoghouseReilly (Jul 25, 2010)

The recipe sounds delicious, Andy.

For pork chops (chicken too), I have to recommend brining and grilling. Makes for very juicy chops.


----------

