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| {This dishy recipe comes courtesy of Gourmet
Guru Mary Risley, founder of Tante Marie's Cooking School in
San Francisco and author of The Tante Marie's Cooking School
Cookbook (Simon & Schuster, 2003).} |
Sometimes cooking dinner means pulling out a basic recipe and
dressing it up, depending on your cravings or the setting. It's
not unlike the simplicity of that little black dress - cute with
sandals at the beach - demure with pearls at the theater- or sexy
with high heels and dangly earrings for a night on the town. So,
let's take the entrée version of that LBD, the boneless,
skinless, naked chicken breast, and accessorize it to entertain
the many moods of your taste buds.
A Simple Chicken Breast Sauté:
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Remove the excess fat and sinew from two boneless, skinless
chicken breasts.
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Place shiny side down on cutting board and cover the breasts
with sheet of wax paper.
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Pound the breasts with a wooden kitchen mallet or a rolling
pin to even the thickness.
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Season with salt and pepper.
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Heat a medium sauté pan and add enough oil to lightly
coat the bottom.
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Add the chicken breasts, without crowding the pan.
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When a half inch of white shows on the sides of each breast,
turn over with tongs.
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Cook until firm to the touch and the juices run clear.
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Set the chicken aside on clean plate.
After sautéing the chicken breasts and setting aside, now
it's time to accessorize! Each of these recipes is for two chicken
breasts.
Lemon Caper Chicken - Deglaze the pan with white
wine, add rinsed capers, very thin slices of lemon, and minced parsley.
Add chicken breasts back to pan to warm in sauce and serve with
orzo pasta.
Tomato Garlic Chicken - Add chopped garlic, chopped
tomato, tomato paste and red wine vinegar to the pan. Place the
chicken breasts back in pan to warm with the sauce and serve with
roasted new potatoes.
Taste of Thai Chicken - Stir in sliced scallions
and sliced shitake mushrooms, remove from pan and stir in tamari
sauce (a slightly thicker soy sauce), rice wine vinegar and a teaspoon
of peanut butter. Add the scallions and mushrooms back to the pan
and the chicken breasts to warm. Serve with steamed brown rice.
Green Chile Chicken - Deglaze pan with chicken
broth, add chopped scallions, minced jalapenos, long thin slivers
of mild green chiles (such as poblano). Optional: Whisk in 1/4 cup
of light cream to finish the sauce. Add chicken back to pan to warm
with the sauce serve with black beans and rice.
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