Cooking Chicken dinner....Help?!?

[newatthis]

Ok, I'm new at having to cook dinner everynight and I'm not sure what to fix.  We don't have much in the house.  Any Ideas??

 

[phatch]

Nothing wrong with simple.

Roast the chicken simply seasoned with salt, pepper, maybe a little dried thyme. Or most any single commonly dried herb like rosemary, or sage or oregano. You should have at least one of those around.  While this video includes a little more complex seasoning, and some other extras, the method for roasting a chicken is sound.

  I prefer to roast breast down to start and finish breast up but that's not as important as getting comfortable with roasting a chicken in the first place.

A simple baked potato would be good but with your oven busy with the chicken, we'll skip that sort of thing for the moment. Boil some spaghetti. Drain and wait until the chicken is done to make the sauce. Put some real butter in a pan on medium low heat to melt. Add a little crushed garlic. and wait for the butter to just start to color. Pour some of this butter over the spaghetti and grate on some myzithra cheese.

Steam some fresh vegetables. Carrots or broccoli are easy and fairly quick.

 

[gunnar]

Is it whole chicken or just breasts or thighs? I like to get a cast iron pan nice and hot then take the pieces of chicken I have oiled salt peppered and used a bit of soy sauce on, then pan sear them on each side for a few minutes, sprinkle with a good amount of parmesan or asiago cheese and toss into a preheated 350 degree oven for another 8-10 minutes, then make a nice crust of the cheese by turning on the broiler for a minute or two. let rest, then slice and serve with either rice or baked potatoes and some steamed veg.

oh, and welcome to cheftalk

 

[newatthis]

That sounds good...but i dont have any pasta...but baked chicken sounds good. Anyone have specific recipes?

 

[newatthis]

Its just breasts.  And the parmesan sounds good. I may be able to do that.

 

[newatthis]

Thanks for your help!!

 

[phatch]

If it's just skinless boneless breasts, I like the paillard technique. This is cutting them in half horizontally and pounding them out a little thinner. Some may quibble that they should just be pounded but cutting them in half simplifies things somewhat in my book.  The advantage is that you get a lot of surface area to season that cooks very quickly. This generally helps people keep them more moist by avoiding over cooking. 

Again, season simply and cook in a hot heavy bottomed pan on medium high heat for no more than 2 minutes a side, probably less. You'll need a small amount of oil in the pan of course. Skip the non-stick skillet for this one. You'll get better color and a bit more flavor.

 

[mikelm]

Hey, New...

Glad you found us. There are LOT of nice people here who like to be helpful, so come back often.

No question is too elementary not to receive serious consideration, so fire away.

Mike

 

[pcieluck]

That sounds good...but i dont have any pasta...but baked chicken sounds good. Anyone have specific recipes?

no pasta?! I'll be darned if you dont have a couple eggs and a measly cup of flower handy!

 

[butzy]

Chicken stir fry? Fry up some onions, add chicken strips, some garlic, ginger, chili, a bit of soy and whatever veges you got (even left-over ones). Serve with rice, mash, pasta or even bread

 

[eastshores]

For absolute simplicity, chicken & rice is a southern comfort food that is nutritious and tasty, can't get a whole lot simpler than 2 ingredients (main that is) ... if you are more southern as in border, search for arroz con pollo /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

 

[teamfat]

So how did you end up cooking the chicken breasts? Was it tasty?

mjb.