CHAPTER

3

FINGER LICKIN’ GREAT

Crispy breading nestling a plump, juicy piece of chicken . . . this is one food that always hindered my progress during my years of dieting. How on earth would I be able to give up this fried piece of heaven forever and achieve my weight-loss goals? Fortunately, by my early twenties, I figured it out. I wouldn’t have to give it up at all, let alone forever. I started making faux-fried chicken—delicious, crispy, breaded chicken that’s baked instead of fried. I never turned back. I suspect you won’t either.

What Goes Into the Perfect Chicken Dish?

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

Few things make cooking easier than the convenience of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. To prepare them, begin by rinsing the chicken under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels, and trim any visible fat from the breasts. Next, often at the thicker end of the breast on the underside, you’ll notice what appears to be a shiny, white formation of threads. Poke the tip of your knife into the meat just underneath the collection of threads and cut it out. (Nothing worse than a chewy bite of tendon in an otherwise scrumptious sandwich.)

Place the trimmed breast flat on a cutting board with the smooth side up. Lay a sheet of waxed paper over the breast. Using the smooth side of a meat mallet (metal or wooden is fine) or the bottom of a flat-bottomed heavy frying pan, pound the breast until it is as thin as the recipe requires. This will not only help tenderize the meat, but it will also help you achieve pieces that resemble your fast food favorites. Pat dry again, if necessary (moisture will make your seasoning clump). Your chicken is now ready for seasoning.

BUYING THE BEST CHICKEN

Chicken can be purchased frozen or fresh from the butcher or meat counter. If you purchase it from the freezer, be sure to look at the nutrition label—some frozen varieties are pumped with added fats before they’re frozen. A 4-ounce raw, boneless, skinless chicken breast half should have only about 1.5 grams of fat.

If you purchase the chicken from the butcher, don’t hesitate to ask him or her to cut it the way you need it, especially if you need a bone-in breast cut to size. Butchers tend to be very helpful—think about it, would you rather talk to a friendly, recognizable face, or stand in a meat locker all day? Like you and me, they enjoy the diversion. Sheila and Roberto at my local chain grocery store are extremely helpful to me. They grind fresh meat (which is particularly important if they are out of the ground varieties of the leanest cuts); they cut meats to size; they trim the meats; they place special orders for me; they have my meat waiting if I call ahead for it; heck, they even split apart large packs of meats at times (so I can buy only what I need). And I’m not talking about a mom-and-pop store. I’m talking about the butchers at the national chain grocery store that is closest to my kitchen. In fact, in the 12 years I’ve been cooking professionally, I’ve never frequented a major grocery store where they wouldn’t accommodate my requests (and I’ve had a lot).

Bone-In Breasts and Drumsticks

Nothing beats a hot batch of faux-fried chicken for a picnic—the hard part is deciding whether to eat the breasts or the drumsticks. To prepare these pieces, begin by removing the skin and any visible fat. Rinse the chicken under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Your chicken is now ready for seasoning.

A Perfect Coat of Breading

There are two basic tips that can guarantee your success in mastering the art of faux-fried chicken. First of all, while the ingredient amounts listed in these recipes will be plenty to coat the items you’re breading, it will be much easier if you add extra flour mixture and extra bread crumbs, then discard any excess. Ingredients are listed as is for the purpose of determining nutritional analyses, but keep this advice in mind if it makes breading easier for you.

The second thing to bear in mind is that you should carefully select the right bowls for the job. If you are breading small pieces, for instance, it’s best to use a small bowl that is not too shallow. That way, you can actually submerge the pieces. If you’re breading an entire breast, a larger shallow bowl works better so that the item to be breaded can lie flat.

Step one, the flour: First, combine fine ingredients, such as ground spices, salt, pepper, etc., with the flour (not the bread crumbs) in a resealable plastic bag. This is the best way to ensure that this type of seasoning sticks to the chicken (if you add them with the bread crumbs, they tend to fall to the bottom of the bowl). Also, I’ve found that it’s important to include a little bit of salt, as it reacts with the protein in the chicken and causes it to plump. Without salt, the chicken will not taste nearly as good.

Add the chicken pieces and shake the bag to coat them. Refrigerate the chicken for at least 10 minutes, or as long as 8 hours if you prefer to cook it later. This step also helps the chicken to tenderize. I’d love to claim that I just naturally knew this, but truth be told, I discovered this method by accident. One day, after years of making breaded, baked foods, I was in the middle of breading chicken when I got a phone call, so I threw the bag with the floured, spiced chicken in the refrigerator. After cooking the chicken, it seemed even more tender than usual. It occurred to me that by letting the flour and salt sit on the chicken during my phone call, I had found the secret to even yummier chicken. I now always give my chicken that extra T.L.C. when I’m breading pieces that are any bigger than bite size.

Step two, the egg: The next step is the egg. Though it’s possible to use egg-white substitute or egg substitute, you’ll notice that the chicken recipes in this book generally call for egg white mixed with fat-free milk because my personal experience is that this combination produces the best results—a crisp, fluffy breading that’s never dry. Now, I know that some people have trouble throwing away the yolks because they feel it’s wasting food. True, it is, but in my local stores, it generally costs less to buy eggs and throw away the yolks than it does to buy the equivalent amount of the liquid substitutes, so that’s how I justify it.

I should probably also note, however, that there are a few recipes where I do call for egg substitutes. This is because some foods are more delicate than others and are thus tougher to bread. And sometimes it’s simply easier to use the substitutes.

Step three, the breading: The final step is the breading. There are many popular options for breading, from crushed corn flakes to seasoned bread crumbs. In this book, however, there are only two that need be called upon: packaged dry bread crumbs (unseasoned) and panko, crispy Japanese bread crumbs that can be found in the international section of most major grocery stores. Dry bread crumbs are much finer than panko, so though these products can be used interchangeably, they will yield very different results. Herbs and other seasonings that are larger than ground spices are best added with the bread crumbs in most cases.

Olive Oil Spray

Many of the recipes in this book suggest spraying food with olive oil to achieve a rich flavor and crisp results with little additional fat. Use an olive oil sprayer filled with a full-flavored extra virgin olive oil that you love, not a store-bought aerosol sprayer that may contain propellants. If you don’t have an olive oil sprayer, however, skip the step.

A Great Grilled Flavor

Grilling can be a great, low-fat method for locking in loads of flavor. And in many ways, I find grilling chicken to be similar to cooking ground beef. As when cooking burgers, I always keep my “three Ss” in mind (see “How to Cook the Perfect Burger”). The main difference with chicken, however, is that once it’s seared on high heat, it’s important to turn the heat down to low to medium-low to cook the chicken through. Chicken should be cooked until it is just past pink. Though it needs to be white inside, it doesn’t need to be white inside and then cooked for another 2 to 10 minutes, which is the biggest mistake people often make. When it’s done, it’s safe to eat. It doesn’t need to be drier than leather to be safe.

Okay, enough reading, time to get cluckin’. . . .

THAWING FROZEN CHICKEN

It’s great to have chicken waiting for you in your freezer. When the craving hits, simply remove as many pieces as you need the night before you plan to cook it. If you forget and need it quickly, it’s simple to thaw it. Soak it in or run it under cold water (if you soak it in hot or warm water, it will start to cook the chicken ever so slightly) until it is thawed through, approximately 5 to 10 minutes, then blot any excess moisture with paper towels.