What can I do with chicken breast fillets...

elljay20

iwanttosave wrote:

My mum used to make chicken breasts for me. :drool:

She used to get a deep frying pan, half fill with water, heat, add some butter and let the chicken cook, then as its finished, she would drain the water, and turn up the heat, add more butter and sear the outside.

We are talking fillets arent we?

I'm hungry now

yes wanty it's fillets. so basically she poached them in water and butter?
were they juicy cooked like that?

organic_wanabe

I sometimes make the chicken breasts into escalopes (flatten the breast and then partially slice it so that it opens like a book, if you know what I mean!). I then put them into a big dish in their flattened out state - which is fine because there are only 3 of us, but if more then you might need two dishes. I then mix some s+p, olive oil (about 2 tbsp), juice of a lemon (or lime) and some sharwoods chilli sauce (again about 2 tbsp) and pour it over the breasts. I cover with foil and cook in the oven, about 180, for around 40 mins. The sauce stays thin but it is very tasty and the chicken stays moist. Had it tonight with saute potatoes and mange tout.

HappyIdiotTalk

The italian sister in law is back off to Italy the weekend, and wants to come round to ours tomorrow night for a meal with us. The problem is she doesn't want pasta, which is actually what we eat most of round here.

She has asked for chicken, so I thought it might be nice to try one of Jamie Olivers roasted chicken breast suggestions (Cook With Jamie; Page 186/187). He says to make a snug dish for the chicken breast out of tin foil, stick the breast in it, add add other ingredients, and roast in the oven at gas mark 6 for 25 to 35 minutes. It looks simple (which is very good for me) and very tasty.

So which should I choose, ie, whats best in winter out of this medley:

Roasted Chicken Breast :
With Cherry Tomatoes and asparagus
Wrapped in pancetta with Leeks and thyme
With creamy butternut squash and chilli
With lemony Bombay potatoes

My personal favourite at the moment is the pancetta one as I love pancetta and leeks. Also what could I do with it? Something in the steamer maybe?

MadCowMan

How about serving it with some Patatas Bravas
http://www.waitrose.com/food_drink/recipes/recipesearch/Recipe/0405034-r02.asp

HappyIdiotTalk

Hummm the wife tried patatas bravas in Spain and said it was her favourite food, I'll make a note of this recipe. Do you really think it would go with Chicken though?

Also I looked in the fridge last night, I've got parma ham not pancetta. Anyone know where I can get pancetta? Do they sell it in any supermarket?

HappyIdiotTalk

It is very thinly sliced. However when I've done this on a pizza its seems to draw out the salt in the ham which makes it too salty. I've got the parma ham reserva from Lidl too which is really good quality stuff, so its not simply because its cheap.

Debt_Free_Chick

HappyIdiotTalk wrote:

Also I looked in the fridge last night, I've got parma ham not pancetta.

It's effectively the same thing although pancetta would usually more closely resemble bacon, rather than ham. Parma ham would work fine as a substitute - as would regular bacon of a good quality.

As for the salt leaching out, simply omit salt from the rest of the dish - if the recipe asks for it, leave it out.

The leeks dish would be the best option, IMHO - definitely not the asparagus which is not in season and likely to be disappointly tasteless.

What other flavours are in the chicken? Would you be better with a plainish potato dish such as rosti?

squeaky

The pancetta one with leeks works really well - although I'm only guessing because I've only ever used ordinary ham

A bit of creamy cheesy sauce in there with them is good too.

alison10011

I've made the chicken with chilli and butternnut squash recipe (it was in the Mail on Sunday suppliment a couple of months ago) - it is lovely. Really creamy and tasty. Even if you don't make it for your SIL I would recommend you give it a go at some point

mum26

the pancetta one sounds lovely, would be nice with some mushrooms too