Sauteed Chicken

Sauteed Chicken
http://savoryseasonings.blogspot.com/

Wash and dry chicken breasts, then trim any fat off chicken, then slice breasts in half horizontally to create 2 thin strips of chicken. Dry chicken breasts one more time to ensure all moisture has been removed (the chicken will get a better golden sear and there won’t be any popping in the oil from water droplets).

Heat a sauté pan over medium heat. After waiting several minutes for the pan to become hot, add a small amount of olive oil (1 TBSP) and wait one minute for the oil to become hot, then place chicken breasts in oil. While chicken is cooking, season with salt, pepper, sage, thyme and oregano. Cook until the chicken looks 90% finished (the top of the chicken breast you can see will be almost all white and very little pink), then gently turn the chicken and finish cooking the remaining 10% of the time on the other side. If the chicken is ready to be turned, it will easily release from the pan. If it still needs a few more minutes, it will resist being turned and will stick to the pan. Once the chicken has reached 165 F, remove from the pan and cover with tinfoil and place in a low heated oven until ready to serve.

To make a sauce to serve with the chicken:
Add 2 cups of chicken broth to the pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring and scraping, until the bottom of the pan is clean (2-4 minutes).

Dissolve 1 TBSP of arrowroot powder* (or 2 tsp. of cornstarch) in 3 TBSP cold liquid (water is fine). Stir or whisk this cold mixture (known as slurry) into the chicken broth. Cook until gravy is thickened, 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper. Serve sautéed chicken breasts with steamed or roasted vegetables, rice and gravy.

*I avoid cornstarch and use arrowroot powder as a thickener in gravies.

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This simple meal is a staple at our home- we LOVE it! We eat it once a week and never tire of it. We change the seasonings added to the sauce and rotate the vegetables through the seasons. We also vary the types of rice to keep it interesting. This is the only way my daughter will eat chicken so we make sure we eat it often.

I don’t know why it took so many years for me to learn the vary basics of sautéing chicken. I remember the awful attempts I made at cooking chicken on the stove when we were newlyweds and my sweet husband offering sincere suggestions and tips on ways to try and make the chicken taste less like leather. :) I’m grateful my cooking skills have improved over the years and my husband has been so patient through the learning curve. :)

A splatter guard is great to keep the few grease splatters within the pan. This one from Ikea has been perfect and was only $2.99!