Friday, August 13, 2010

Apparently, I got the cooking bug today, hmm.

Got exceptionally hungry while reading. Realized that post-running and yoga hypoglycemic body was operating exclusively on a soft-boiled egg and a pot of coffee and that the caffeine crash had hit. Usual go-to mid-afternoon sandwich option eliminated for lack of bread. Only solution was to make dinner ingredients as lunch, namely chicken breast and, you guessed it, the cabbage. So let me tell you quickly what you do when you're reading, about to throw a party, have dangerously low blood sugar and endless cabbage.

CHICKEN AND CABBAGE "LINNER"

I'm going to forego an ingredients list since it's really just chicken, cabbage and some spices. I always hear people complaining about chicken breast being too dry, too tough and generally boring and unappetizing. Then people eat my chicken and experience a change of heart. Chicken is one of my fortes, for some odd reason, and the secret, fair reader, is patience. So, the next time you find chicken breast in your local supermarket aisle (or farmer's market) at a tantalizingly low price, purchase and follow these simple steps.

As I said, I was a in a low blood sugar danger zone hurry, so I took chicken tenders (which are even better, as they cook faster) and sprinkled some ginger-garlic-pimento spice on them (which, presumably, you may replicate far more deliciously with some real sauteed garlic and some properly real shaved ginger, something I keep meaning to do myself) and some all-purpose seasoning. Heat up frying pan, glug some olive oil (or vegetable, whatever). Turn heat down to medium-low. Add chicken, spiced side down: first, you're going to sprinkle the other half of your chicken with the spices; then, when you see the piece of chicken getting white and semi-cooked about half-way, you're going to turn your chicken over. About seven minutes later, you're going to turn your chicken over again. About seven minutes after that, you're going to turn your chicken over again. By the end of 25 minutes, you will have delicious chicken. It seems painstaking, and maybe the constant turning is not actually the secret to keeping the chicken moist, but rather it's simply the low-flame -- but, like my father who rearranges the living-room furniture during a Detroit Red Wings game at halftime if they're losing because he believes the change in energy resulting from the moving of his personal furniture will favourably affect the outcome of the hockey game occurring hundreds of miles away, I have a faith in my system, and it works, dammit, :). Do this for all chicken, whatever spices, dry-rubs, marinades, etc. you choose, and you might change your mind about chicken breast!

While I was obsessively-compulsively fussing with the chicken, I had some roughly chopped cabbage simmering away in a deep pan with about half a cup of chicken broth and a few splashes of soy sauce. Takes about a similar amount of time, or maybe 20 minutes, also on medium-low. You won't recognize your cabbage afterwards: gone the toughness, gone the bitterness, to be replaced with a melt in your mouth juicy savory goodness. And now, back to work!

Reading: Alain de Lille, De planctu naturae

3 comments:

  1. So that's the secret to your chicken! Now I'll have to try it :)

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  2. Right, yes, this is Annie, btw :)

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  3. Oh, hello!! Yes, that is the secret. Nom nom nom.

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