Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Cooking Tender Chicken Breast Meat

By Lynnette Lo

When you cook chicken breast meat, you will want to ensure that the meat is not overcooked or dry and tough. Having an end result of succulent, juicy breast meat is not all that difficult if the chicken is cooked correctly. Chicken breast meat is lean and has less fat than any other part of the chicken as long as the skin is removed so it is probably the best and healthiest part too. Employing simple cooking and marinating techniques would be able to render the lean chicken breast meat into something delicious and tender.

Say, you have a family recipe for chicken recipe but you are trying it out for the first time. However, you left it on the stove for too long and your chicken ended up practically dry and stringy. There was nothing wrong with the recipe but the duration of the cooking time. Chicken breast meat must not be overcooked or else it will dry out and neither should it be uncooked or else it'd be too raw for anyone's taste!

There are plenty of different ways to cook chicken breast meat, either you bake it, roast it, stir fry it or even deep fry it. Whatever way you choose to cook it, you must first remember that marinade is also important to add flavors to it according to whatever recipe you have on hand. Then, if you really want tender chicken breast meat, then you will need to tenderize it, either with a mallet or with through another means, marinade. You could use the commercial bottled marinade or you could marinade the chicken in apple juice overnight and you'd get soft, tender chicken breast meat.

Now, if you are thinking of deep-frying the chicken for some crunchy chicken fingers, you could also choose to use buttermilk as marinade. Buttermilk is also another natural tenderizer. Next, we talk about how you cook the chicken. When you are grilling it or baking it in the oven, remember to keep the temperature at moderate and set the cooking time to shorter periods. All you need to do is to pop the chicken in and set it at maybe, 15 minutes cooking time and then check on it. If it is cooked by then, remove from the oven. The cooking time varies according to the size and amount of chicken you are cooking.

Now, if you plan to try you hand at stir-fried chicken, it is always best to slice the chicken meat into small, thin pieces so that the meat cooks easily and thoroughly. It will also save you time and spare you from overcooking it. A stir fry chicken recipe I can share with you is 'Stir-Fried Mushrooms Chicken'. First, you season the chicken with some soy sauce and pepper. Then, you sautee some garlic till fragrant. Add sliced brown mushrooms and stir-fry for about a minute or so. Then you throw in the chicken pieces and stir-fry for about 3 minutes. Make sure the heat is maintained at medium low. Once the juices run clear, the chicken is cooked and you can remove from heat immediately.

Although the chicken breast meat could prove to be a challenge to cook, it is low in fat, packed with proteins and is great for lunch and dinner. It suits those on a diet and those watching their weight very well and that's not all, it is pretty versatile. Chicken breast meat can be cooked any way you like and as long as it is done correctly, it will be tasty, healthy and best of all, low in fat!

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