I made this recipe up myself but before anyone chimes in I’d like to say I’m sure I got this from somewhere else I just don’t remeber where.
The recipe itself is pretty good flavor wise, but its a little dry. So what I whant from you guys is sugestions on how to make it suacier with out compromizing the flavor.
OK here it is:
I take one green bell pepper, one red bell pepper, one onion, dice them up and saute them in some extra virgin olive oil. Then I add some salt, pepper and a little bit of minced garlic along with about 2lbs chicken breast cut into strips. I let all that simmer for a while untill the chicken is thouroghly cooked.
Then I serve all that over some pasta.
So how about it folks? I know from past expiriences on this board that we got some good cooks out there, so lets have it. This novice cooker needs some help.
Have you tried adding a bit of chicken or vegetable stock?
Try this:
Sautee as usual. Then take all the bell peppers and onion out. place them in a bowl to the side or something. Leave the oils in th epan however. Maybe add some butter? Now, add some stock and reduce it. This means to cook it until it has thickened up. When the sauce has been reduced to your liking, add the peppers and such back in to heat the back up. resume your recipe.
You can also add other liquids, but these will modify the taste:
Add a splash of wine to the stock.
Add Cream to the stock.
You may want to try your recipe in a southwestern mode:
Roast your bell peppers. (Char them either in your broiler or stive top) They should end up looking like a big piece of carbon. Now, under running water, remove the burnt bits. You can use the cream variation and perhaps add some chipotle (if you like spice). hmmm. Maybe even add a bit of corn?
Well, since you requested that you’d like it to be saucier, I’d think about perhaps adding some chicken stock or a little tomato sauce after your chicken is cooked, letting it heat through before pouring it over your pasta.
Thing is, chicken breast meat does not take too long to cook–if it’s dry, it means that it’s overcooked. Chicken breast strips usually don’t take longer than 5 minutes to cook through.
But, I do understand that most people are often uncomfortable with cooking chicken to a point where there would be no bacterial contamination, hence it’s often overcooked and dry. Personally, with the flavors you have going on, I’d think a little tomato sauce would be good, perhaps adding a bit of chili powder for some extra flavor.
Well, if you add chicken stock at the end, a couple teaspoons of Hungarian paprika (right after frying the onions), and a couple dollops of sour cream, you’ve basically got a form of Chicken Paprikash.
If all you’re interested in is making it saucier, when the chicken is more-or-less finished cooking, add a teaspoon or so of flour or cornstarch to the pan (assuming there’s enough fat there. If not, add a little butter). Then add chicken stock, and let it cook a bit so it thickens and cooks through, or else you’ll have a floury taste.
Otherwise, tomatoes are a natural choice for this recipe. Get some really good plum tomatoes or, at this time of year, get a can or two of Italian plum tomatoes. Mash-em up (you can do this with a fork inside the can) and add to your pan. Let it reduce for awhile until it achieves the consistency you want. As a final touch, add chopped (or torn, as some purists insist) fresh basil just before serving.
How about reducing some tomato passata after cooking the dry ingredients. And maybe add a subtle sweet and sour buzz - a teaspoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon of honey.
also, if it’s the chicken that’s too dry try sauteeing it first, remove it to a plate & cover with tin foil. Do your veggies/sauce and THEN add the meat back in. This allows the chicken to rest and retain its juices & avoids the overcooking mentioned above.
Spear it firmly on a big fork (a meat carving fork is great), burn it all over the outside on the gas flames on your cooker, or use a gas blowtorch; keep going until the skin is black and blistered all over, then drop it into a plastic bag, seal and leave for ten minutes.
Take it out and the blackened skin will just rub off - or you can use a small knife to scrape it off, the flesh of the pepper will have softened a fair bit.
The idea is not to remove every last trace of the blackened skin (and don’t even think about rinsing it), just scrape most of it away, then remove the stalk and seeds.
For the chicken, I would cook the breast fillets whole under the grill, then slice them and add them to the other ingredients at the last minute - rub them all over first with half a clove of garlic, then rub in a bit of paprika and salt, grill them hot until they go crispy and brown on the outside; the inside should still be nice and succulent (but not pink, obviously).
I’d second the call for stock (maybe butter too); drop the olive oil in favour of something that you can heat a bit hotter (sunflower or groundnut maybe); heat until really smoking hot and throw the onions in first, before they start to burn, throw in half a glass of rice wine or sherry (stand back or come to terms with having no eyebrows).
Lets see… I would add 1/4 c. of apple wine and 1/4 cup of light cream after you’ve got the chicken mostly cooked. Walnuts would be a nice addition. Flavor with fresh black pepper and salt, and simmer until it’s as thick as you like. Round the sauce with a little butter, and serve over pasta, rice or buscuits.
To make a different dish, cut the wine and cream in half and have it as a chicken dish with a baked potato and green salad.
This sounds simmilar to the Mediteranian dish of chicken sauted in olive oil with cinamin and onion. The secret to making that moist are two-fold.
The easy secret is to use more olive oil than you would otherwise need to simmer with, and add the juice of half a lemon just before serving to cut the oilyness.
The more difficult trick is to not othercook the chicken. Now if any of the people who will eat the meal are at special danger from possibly under-cooked chicken (pregnant, breast-feeding, very young, very old, suffering from long term dissease) don’t tr this.
But if all the eaters are healthy, cook the chicken until white all other (no translucence) then give two more minutes at high heat, cut into the thickest part of the chicken breast, and see that the meat is white and ccoked inside, if not give another two minutes and cut again. Repeat until the breast is cooked all the way through. Then cut all brests in half, and if all look cooked through serve immediately. If any are still pink or slimey looking (raw looking) inside give more time and test by cutting again.
Ideally this will end up with only-just cooked half breasts (or quater breasts if the first cooking time estimate was wrong) that will be just right for the pitta bread.
Now another thing to keep the food from seeming dry, especially if you don’t want to risk just-cooked chicken. Serve a Greek salad as a side dish with this. Make sure the leaves are cut nice and small so that salad can be added into the pitta bread with the chicken if your guests like.
One other thing… try out different makes of pitta bread, or lavosh bread, as some makes are much dryer than others, and over-toasting the pitta bread can also make it very dry (good for dipping, but not for the use you have planned).
Cheers, Bippy
Slivers of Jalapeño pepper might be nice. You could even get daring and use rajas en escabeche and add a few of the carrots and onions from the pickle.
You could also roast off or pan fry the chicken in some butter to brown the meat first. This will add a nice depth of flavor (like the reduced stock suggestion).
Whup a little pesto into the whole shebang for some jollies.
Go Asian and use some roasted sesame oil and a bit of xao xing rice wine (or mirin). A spoonful of black bean and garlic paste will liven things up a little.
Go Indian and work in some yellow or green curry paste and serve over rice.
You could cook the chicken breasts separately beforehand, whole. Then, cut the cooked breasts into strips and add them to the mixture and cook just long enough to warm them. I’m thinking the breasts will hold their juices better that way.
One more suggestion. Just go Thai. Add a tablespoon or two of green or red curry paste, and to this add about a cup to a cup and a half of coconut milk. Add a bit of fresh lemongrass and cilantro to liven things up and voila! One of my favorite quick and easy dishes. (Except I would use a flavorless oil instead of olive.)