Ways To Cook Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

Boneless and skinless chicken breasts can be cooked in a variety of ways including grilling, oven roasting, BBQing and even poaching but what method provides the best in flavour and yet is simple and straight forward to cook?

One of my favourite ways to cook boneless chicken breasts is to cut them lengthways creating an chicken escalope and then frying gently in and butter and oil mix. Given the chicken breast is quite thin (around 1cm) as a consequence of cutting lengthways it cooks relatively quickly and retains its moisture content provding you with a tender and succulent chicken dish.

Holding the chicken breast on a cutting board slice the breast lengthways through the thickest part without cutting all the way through creating almost a double or butterfly effect. Place a clean plastic bag over the breast and hit gently with the base of a saucepan or rolling pin to flatten the breast to around 1 cm in thickness. Take care not to hit it too hard given it is a tender meat and will split if you hit too hard.

Below is the method I use to cook boneless chicken breasts.

Boneless Chicken Breast Escalope Recipe

3 x Eggs beaten

1/4 pint of milk

1/4 Tsp Salt

Pinch of black pepper

1/2 Tsp Paprika

1/2 Tsp Garlic powder

4oz Plain flour

8oz breadcrumbs (fresh is best or dried works ok also)

1 x Tsp Butter

1 x Tsp Oil

Method

1. Beat the eggs and add the milk and blend

2. In a clean bowl place flour and seasonings and mix until incorporated

3. Place the butterfly chicken breast into the flour mixture and coat all over

4. Transfer to the egg mix and coat ensuring full coverage

5. Finally transfer to the breadcrumbs and coat gently pressing down the crumbs to ensure they are firmly stuck to the chicken.

Heat the oil and butter to a high heat and crumble in a few breadcrumbs, when they immediately sizzle your pan is hot enough. Simply lay the chicken escalopes into the pan and give them 3-4 minutes each side.

You will now have crispy yet succulent chicken breasts! Enjoy your cooking.

How Long To Grill Chicken Wings

Chicken wings are an often overlooked part of the chicken given their lack of meat content however, there is nothing better than succulent and juicy chicken wings coated and baked in the oven, grill or BBQ. In fact, if you purchase a large chicken and detach the wings from the carcass you will have some fairly ‘meaty’ wings which are an excellent cut perfect for the BBQ given their quick cooking times. But just how to to grill chicken wings?

Grilling chicken enables the fat to drain off and delivers you a delicate, crisp wing lacking excess fat. The true test in grilling chicken wings is the inevitable flare ups and burning. However, to resolve this, keep your grill to a medium flame/heat and turn the wings frequently to avoid burning. The total grilling time for chicken wings will be around 15 minutes with constant turning to avoid burn marks.

A good chicken wing cooking tip is to simply place them on a baking tray and cook in a medium to high oven for 20 minutes (turning once) before allowing them to cool slightly to allow you to brush on some tasty BBQ sauce. You can then introduce your wings to the grill and giving them around 3-4 minutes on each side on a medium grill to finish off the cooking and sealing the sauce into the wings.

A great chicken wing recipe is provided for you below to accomplish just that!

Honey & Mustard Chicken Wings Ingredients

1 x tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 x small Onion, chopped as finely as you can get it
2 x cloves of crushed/minced garlic
2 x tablespoons of clear runny Honey
4 x tablespoons of tomato sauce/ketchup
4 x tablespoons of Worcester sauce
2 x teaspoons of Mustard
2 x teaspoons of Tabasco sauce (use less or more according to you liking)
8 x chicken wings (remove the very tips at the joint)
2 x tablespoons of plain Flour seasoned liberally with salt & pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 210C.

2. Cook the onion and garlic in a frying pan on the hob for 3 to 4 minutes until softened and translucent.

3. Blend in the honey, tomato and Worcester sauces and then the mustard and Tabasco sauce. Simmer over a very low heat stirring for around a minute.

4. Coat the chicken wings in the seasoned flour and spread the sauce plentifully.

5. Arrange the sticky chicken wings on a non stick (if you have one) baking tray and cook in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes until golden and cooked through.

Can I Boil Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

It is possible to boil or ‘poach’ a chicken breast in water although it is a good way of loosing the flavours of the meat unless you add additional spice and flavour the cooking water to compensate. This is achieved by using a suitable stock rather than simply water to poach the chicken in.

A simple method of cooking a chicken breast through boiling or poaching is to place the breast into a large skillet or frying pan adding 1 or 2 cups of chicken broth. Once the broth reaches boiling temperature reduce the heat to a slow simmer and cover, cooking for around 15 minutes. Once the cooking time is up simply remove the boneless chicken breast from the skillet or pan and transfer to an oven roasting pan arranging the chicken breasts in a single layer.

Now is a great time to add some further spices (some salt and pepper perhaps) and even a slice of lemon or orange to bring in some additional flavours. Make up another 4 cups of chicken broth (ideally this should be boiling or just below when you introduce to the roasting tin) and pour over the chicken breasts. Cover with the lid and cook in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

You will now have a beautifully flavoured poached or boiled boneless and skinless chicken breast meal ready in no time. Enjoy!

Easy Chicken Fingers Recipes

Chicken fingers come from the underside of the chicken breast and as such are the most tender part of the breast meat and an added bonus courtesy of how the breast grows on the chicken are the perfect size and do not require any preparation in terms of cutting.

To cut the cost of buying your chicken fingers why not either buy a whole chicken and cut up the joints yourself simply removing the chicken finger from the underside of the breast or should you not feel confident in butchering a chicken (simple chicken butchering guide coming soon) simply purchase a pack of ready boned chicken breasts. These generally come with the finger still attached, really easy to then buy a couple of packs and remove the fingers whilst freezing the remaining breasts for later use.

So what are some really easy chicken fingers recipes? Well, just as normal chicken breast can be marinated and flavoured readily these thin chicken strips can also be tailored to your particular preferences. Below are a couple of chicken fingers recipes to get you started, just remember to experiment making a note of how much seasoning you use (and the type) so that you can reproduce your excellent results again and again.

Herb coated Chicken Fingers

2 Tablespoons of Water

4 Tablespoons or lemon juice

3 Tablespoons of Garlic Power or 2 medium fresh cloves of garlic

2 Tablespoons of Groundnut (or alternative, Groundnut is perfect owing to the lack of flavour produced by the oil) oil

3 tablespoons of onion powder

1.5 Teaspoons of Italian seasoning (get this at your local supermarket, it’s avaliable everywhere)

Half Teaspoon of ground pepper

Quarter teaspoon of Dill weed

1 – 1.5 pounds of boneless chicken fingers

So easy to make simply mix the all the ingredients together and marinate for several hours or even better overnight. When you are ready to cook the chicken just take the fingers out of the marinade mixture and coat with a thin layer of flour then saute in a heavy based frying pan or skillet with a little oil until golden and cooked through.

Cornflake Chicken Fingers

Another great easy and quick chicken finger idea is to crush up some cornflakes (put them in a bag and whack them with a rolling pin or the base of a saucepan – great if someone has annoyed you!). Simply season the chicken fingers with salt and freshly ground pepper and coat with the corn mixture. Place on a baking tray and spray with cooking oil and bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the oven until cooked through. This is great served with a mustard sauce (below) served with homemade chips!

Mustard Honey Chicken Finger Sauce

1 x half cup of quality French Dijon mustard
1 x tablespoon mayonnaise
3 x tablespoons honey

Doesn’t come much simpler than this, mix together the mustard and mayonnaise until it reaches a really smooth consistency without any lumps and blend in the the honey – Bon appetite!