Its taken me years to figure out how to make a good chicken breast. I’ve always dried them out.. Its really bad when you try and make it for guest and everyone is chewing and chewing and drinking glasses of water telling you how great of a meal you made. I’ve done it.. alot! I know its pretty embarrassing, so I either cooked dark meat or beef.
Well those days are over. I figured it out! It works great for me every time. Try it a couple of times before you have guests to have the confidence. It pairs great with apple vinaigrette salad.
Put chicken breasts 1 at a time into gallon zip-lock bag. Pound to no thicker than 1/2 inch. I like just on the verge of breaking apart (about 3/8 inch).
Get a container to hold them in. a large glass casserole dish works great. In the dish put a little olive oil, sprinkle a generous pinch of kosher salt, a few grinds of pepper. add a layer of pounded chicken, then sprinkle with oil, salt and pepper, then next layer of chicken.. and so on until all chicken is in there. Cover, and leave container on counter.
Now this is the crucial part. Let the chicken come to almost room temp. If they are right out fridge, they will have to cook to long and dry out. I use an electric skillet to cook. I can cook like 4 breast at a time. I usually cook 10 lbs at a time. The breast are good cold on salads, or as something else for the next 3 days or so.
Anyways, I get the skillet as hot as it can get. Once its super duper hot, put the breast on it. Cook for exactly 2 minutes each side. Don’t guess at 2 minutes, or around 2 minutes. Set a timer. If you didn’t pound them down, then you will need to adjust to cook them correctly… But pound them down it makes a world of difference.
Pull them off, set them in a resting vessel. I use an empty ceramic crockpot. Fill it up and put the lid on. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Enjoy!
Please make sure chicken is all the way done before consuming.
