Chicken

Chicken is one of my main meat choices, for a bunch of reasons (cost, not super-greasy, try to avoid red meat due to kidney stones). Here’s some tips for it:

• Dark meat (chicken thighs) can be a nice change of pace from white meat… it’s more flavorful, and actually fatty (which is not a bad thing)
• I cook chicken in a pan sometimes, generally with an initial sear and the low and slow with the lid on (or open a bit to help shed some of the “15% added water” that much chicken has)
  • this is my favorite pan: nice and big with high sides, good lid, and that extra handle means I can carry it easily and rest it across the edges of the sink while it cools and when cleaning it. For all  non-stick pans: try not to introduce temperature variations to them, for example putting cold (or even “hot” water) into a hot pan; and never put them in the dishwasher, even if they claim to be dishwasher safe.
• My new favorite way to cook chicken (and just about everything else) is my Instant Pot, which is an electric pressure cooker/sauté pan/slow cooker/rice cooker etc. Here’s what I do for chicken:
  • start the sauté function
  • put in some oil
  • brown the chicken breasts on both sides, while adding spices (my faves: garlic salt, Montreal steak seasoning)
  • then pop the lid on and start the Poultry program, and add 5 extra minutes to it with the plus button (because I like my chicken fall-apart tender).
  • I will often just let it go overnight, as the Instant Pot automatically goes into keep-warm mode for up to 10 hours when finished.
  • Then I remove it and slice it (for entrees or grab-snacks) or dice it (for salads); a large cutting board with juice grooves is an essential part of my kitchen.
  • There will be some water/juice/spices left in the pot, and I often pour most or all of this over the chicken, because the cooked chicken will naturally dry up when cooling down, and that added liquid is flavorful and helps keep the chicken moist.