So my Boyfriend says I havent cracked Chicken

SarahMollie

As the title suggests, I've tried cooking chicken fillets numerous differnet ways but most have been unsuccessful. One or two outright disasters and then mostly just a bit boring.

Below are examples of things that I've tried but none have proved popular.

Chicken in satay sauce - went a big rogue here and the sauce split - verdict = disaster
Jerk chicken - used thighs and drumsticks for this. tonnes of flavour on the outside but chicken itself was plan and boring. Also used too much chili so the skin was hot hot hot! - verdict = disaster
Pan friend chicken brest - cooked numerous times with various spices, ie cajun, cayenne pepper, paprika etc, served with some lime - verdict = boring
Chicken and Almond curry - smelled great the whole way through cooking with the various spices etc but the almond butter seemed to nutrilise the flavour, totally bland. verdict = boring
Chinese lemon chicken - velveted the chicken before stirfrying with lemongrass and a lemon, cornflour, ricewine and soy sauce which thickened up nicely. verdict = boring

Now I'm of the opinion that a chicken fillet will only ever be so exciting but my BF insists that I'm just bad at cooking chicken.

Any suggestions?!?!

Loire

Beat an egg in a cup - add to a bowl
Make / Buy breadcrumbs - put onto a plate
Dip the chicken in the egg and mix into the breadcrumbs
Add to a frying pan for about 5 mins and turn over. Turn down the heat and cover with a lid *

For a sauce, chop some garlic really finely & add to a pot with a humongous knob of butter. Cook on a low heat for 5 mins or so and pour over the chicken.

* this really works for me to get a nice, moist chicken.

All else fails, see if he's any good!

Loire

Easy Chicken Pasta

Parboil pasta, drain and add to a pyrex dish
Grate a cup of cheese and add to the pasta
Add a small bottle of cream
Add a tin of chopped tomatoes

Lob into the over for 20 mins or so.

SarahMollie

Loire wrote: »

Beat an egg in a cup - add to a bowl
Make / Buy breadcrumbs - put onto a plate
Dip the chicken in the egg and mix into the breadcrumbs
Add to a frying pan for about 5 mins and turn over. Turn down the heat and cover with a lid *

For a sauce, chop some garlic really finely & add to a pot with a humongous knob of butter. Cook on a low heat for 5 mins or so and pour over the chicken.

* this really works for me to get a nice, moist chicken.

All else fails, see if he's any good!

Would you believe I've actually tried something similar but had forgotten it from my list.

I did chicken goujons, and even added a bit of parmasan cheese and herbs to try to make it a bit more flavorsome. I baked them in the oven and they were really moist (at least I don't make dry chicken!) and served with salad and homemade potato wedges but apparently it was also a bit "boring"

I'm beginning to think he's just impossible!

Day Lewin

Loire wrote: »

Easy Chicken Pasta

Parboil pasta, drain and add to a pyrex dish
Grate a cup of cheese and add to the pasta
Add a small bottle of cream
Add a tin of chopped tomatoes

Lob into the over for 20 mins or so.

Er, no chicken?

ChampagnePop

Have you tried a meat hammer? Serious question

the beer revolu

I seriously question your bf's ability to actually taste real food if his verdict of all of the above = boring.

What wonderful and exciting chicken dishes does he come up with?

He sounds like a real joy to cook for - you're very lucky to have him.

the beer revolu

ChampagnePop wrote: »

Have you tried a meat hammer? Serious question

Take boyfriend's meat.
Place on chopping board.
Cover withwith cling film.
Hammer flat with meat hammer.
Job done!

SarahMollie

the beer revolu wrote: »

I seriously question your bf's ability to actually taste real food if his verdict of all of the above = boring.

What wonderful and exciting chicken dishes does he come up with?

He sounds like a real joy to cook for - you're very lucky to have him.

Ha, I know, he's a delight :pac::pac::pac:

TBF he's normally highly complementary about my cooking but he's convinced chicken is my weak spot skill wise.

He comes up with precisely zero dishes, just does the BBQ in summer and cooks steak whenever thats what we're having. Don't get me wrong, he helps in the kitchen, but its mostly involving chopping and keeping things moving towards the dishwasher.

In fairness, the jerk chicken and the satay were genuinely unsuccessful, but all the rest were nice IMO. Maybe the chicken goujons were a bit childish but still nice I thought.

I'm thinking of trying to replicate the chicken katsu curry from wagamamas, as he apparently likes that, so we shall see.

SarahMollie

ChampagnePop wrote: »

Have you tried a meat hammer? Serious question

Actually no, so thank you! This is the kind of facepalming obvious advice that I was looking for!

Should I butterfly it first or would that make it too thin? Should I wrap in clingfilm first?

ChampagnePop

SarahMollie wrote: »

Actually no, so thank you! This is the kind of facepalming obvious advice that I was looking for!

Should I butterfly it first or would that make it too thin? Should I wrap in clingfilm first

I just put them whole in a zip lock bag and start "tenderizing", then they're lovely just pan fried with whatever seasoning you fancy

SarahMollie

ChampagnePop wrote: »

I just put them whole in a zip lock bag and start "tenderizing", then they're lovely just pan fried with whatever seasoning you fancy

Thank you - this sounds just about within my skill level!

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

SarahMollie

draiochtanois wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I buy chicken fillets from my local butcher, who I think is a really good butcher as they go.

I've only ever bought a whole chicken if I was doing a roast of something like that at the weekend.

Really what I'm after is being able to have chicken once a week without complaints, as its a good lean source of protein. I don't think its the most exciting meat ever though, so I think maybe his expectations are too high!

mordeith

SarahMollie wrote: »

I buy chicken fillets from my local butcher, who I think is a really good butcher as they go.

I've only ever bought a whole chicken if I was doing a roast of something like that at the weekend.

Really what I'm after is being able to have chicken once a week without complaints, as its a good lean source of protein. I don't think its the most exciting meat ever though, so I think maybe his expectations are too high!

Have you tried a straight-up roast chicken? I mean a quality bird, not those 4/5 euro yokes from Tesco. Hard to beat with roast veg and a nice gravy

SarahMollie

mordeith wrote: »

Have you tried a straight-up roast chicken? I mean a quality bird, not those 4/5 euro yokes from Tesco. Hard to beat with roast veg and a nice gravy

Yeah, once or twice and yes always good quality - I buy all my meat from the butchers, its something i'd be fussy about.

I suppose my perception is that doing a roast dinner is a bit time consuming on a weekday after work. We mostly eat out on a Saturday and go to one of our families on a Sunday so a roast, just for the two of us, seems a lot.

TOEJOE

Why not get him to cook the dinners , us lads get off...... way too easy.
Cook a chicken Curry throw all into a pot and let it roar for 30mins ensure you put lots of chilly into it ,you wont taste the chicken ...job done.

mordeith

SarahMollie wrote: »

Yeah, once or twice and yes always good quality - I buy all my meat from the butchers, its something i'd be fussy about.

I suppose my perception is that doing a roast dinner is a bit time consuming on a weekday after work. We mostly eat out on a Saturday and go to one of our families on a Sunday so a roast, just for the two of us, seems a lot.

I find roasts the easiest to do. Just bung em all in the oven!

testaccount123

Just because chicken is from a butchers doesnt mean its decent quality.

Try roasting some skin-on, on the bone organic chicken breasts.

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

Boskowski

Filet of chicken is a pretty boring ingredient. It can't be cooked medium. It doesn't have many or any natural juices. It's natural state is white and dry. It needs oils and spices or sauces to taste like anything at all. Ok you can crisp the cr@p out of it and that's not too bad.
But I never cook chicken filet as a whole I only use it in stir fry and I cut it into strips for that.
Her current favourite is Asian stir fry with chicken strips in teriyaki sauce.

BuffyBot

I'd try something along the lines of http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/8399-chicken-breasts-en-papillote

Hard to have tasteless chicken when you cook it with the veg, seasoning aromatics etc in a package (you can always vary the veg mix - earthy root veg one time, Mediterranean veg another with appropriate tweaks to the ingredients/flavourings).

screamer

Chicken fillets are bland by nature. If you really want flavour, you need to marinade them overnight in the fridge. Make him some fiery piri piri chicken, that'll knock the gob off him and he might be glad of a nice bland chicken fillet after that......

looksee

I rarely cook chicken breasts as the are very bland - except sliced across, egg and gram flour and quick fry. Chicken thighs though, in a casserole with leek and celery and peppers, some smoked lardons and stock, handful of porridge oats to thicken, slow cooked, yum.

anothernight

Are you sure he doesn't find chicken in general boring? It's not the most exciting of meats.

I think you should ask him to cook it in a way he likes it so you know for future reference, though I suspect if I were you I'd tell him to cook it himself from then on.

fiddlechic

I think fillets or breasts are the most boring bit of the chicken unless in a sauce.
For salad, I often poach the breast - which is at least gives nice and moist chicken.

Chicken thighs are my go-to dinner during the week - either "roasted" on the pan, or in the oven - cook within 45-60 minutes.
I often prep them in the morning, stick the casserole in the fridge and then pop in the oven when I get home.

FlowerPower1

I haven't read the whole thread so forgive me if it's been posted but Neven Maguire's recipe for Vietnamese Style Grilled Five Spice Chicken Salad is divine, quick and simple to prepare. It can be used with thighs or breast. Google the recipe, nom.

Brian?

SarahMollie wrote: »

As the title suggests, I've tried cooking chicken fillets numerous differnet ways but most have been unsuccessful. One or two outright disasters and then mostly just a bit boring.

Below are examples of things that I've tried but none have proved popular.

Chicken in satay sauce - went a big rogue here and the sauce split - verdict = disaster
Jerk chicken - used thighs and drumsticks for this. tonnes of flavour on the outside but chicken itself was plan and boring. Also used too much chili so the skin was hot hot hot! - verdict = disaster
Pan friend chicken brest - cooked numerous times with various spices, ie cajun, cayenne pepper, paprika etc, served with some lime - verdict = boring
Chicken and Almond curry - smelled great the whole way through cooking with the various spices etc but the almond butter seemed to nutrilise the flavour, totally bland. verdict = boring
Chinese lemon chicken - velveted the chicken before stirfrying with lemongrass and a lemon, cornflour, ricewine and soy sauce which thickened up nicely. verdict = boring

Now I'm of the opinion that a chicken fillet will only ever be so exciting but my BF insists that I'm just bad at cooking chicken.

Any suggestions?!?!

Loads of flavourings and still boring usually means you're not adding enough salt. Chicken breasts are bland and need generous seasoning. It's the most common mistake in amateur cooks IMO. Jerk chicken is a prime example, even though the marinade is packed with flavour it falls flat without salt.

kylith

Seriously, tell him to either cook it himself or shut up.

I also recommend using chicken thighs rather than breast. It's much tastier imo.

inforfun

Here, all the chicken recipe's you could think of.

Personal favourite of mine, chicken provencale

Wish they would start here with a service like that.

Trick is though with most recipes, take a bite of everything in 1 go.
Dont eat he vegs, potatoes and meat separate. It is the combination that makes things taste nice.

Zelda247

Loire wrote: »

Beat an egg in a cup - add to a bowl
Make / Buy breadcrumbs - put onto a plate
Dip the chicken in the egg and mix into the breadcrumbs
Add to a frying pan for about 5 mins and turn over. Turn down the heat and cover with a lid *

For a sauce, chop some garlic really finely & add to a pot with a humongous knob of butter. Cook on a low heat for 5 mins or so and pour over the chicken.

* this really works for me to get a nice, moist chicken.

All else fails, see if he's any good!

When you put the lid on how long does it take to cook?

ella23

My favourite which never fails and has no fat in it either.

Breast of chicken,
For the sauce:
Ballymalou Relish, wholegrain mustard, Lemon or lime, garlic italian seasoning. Put as much of these in as your palette likes, just make sure theres enough to cover the chicken. Mix all the ingredients of the sauce together.
Lay the breast of chicken on tinfoil and make a little bowl for it by folding the tinfoil up. Add in your sauce and cover full. Put in to the oven at 200 degrees for half an hour. after 30 mins, open it up and up the temperature to 220 degrees for a further ten mins. Its amazing! And the chicken is flavoursome and moist

VictorRomeo

This is quite probably my favorite chicken dish ever... It's a Thomas Keller recipe - he of French Laundry fame (once held the Best Restaurant in the World title - think it dethroned the Fat Duck)..

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/08/thomas-kellers-chicken-breasts-with-tarragon.html

It's unbelievably good.... the curried chicken goes great with the sharp tarragon sauce. Best served with a crisp white wine.... Serve with steamed rice.

Rakish Paddy

As has been alluded to by many here, chicken breast is kind of inherently boring and you need other sauces / seasonings /accompaniments to compensate.

Here is one of my absolute favourite chicken recipes, a Thai-style chicken and cashew nuts (FAR nicer than the Chinese takeaway counterpart), although it might require a trip to an Asian grocery shop to get some of the sauce ingredients:
http://highheelgourmet.com/2014/02/01/chicken-with-cashew-nuts/

Slice the chicken breast into thin slices rather than big chunks, and you can add other vegetables to the stir fry to liven it up. Off the top of my head, I'd usually include any combination of:
Peppers
Shi'take mushrooms
Water chestnuts
Thinly sliced carrot
Broccoli
Pak choi (don't add this until near the end of cooking so that it stays crisp)

SarahMollie

Thanks all - some lovely recipies for me to attempt.

For all those saying that chicken fillet is a boring cut - I know and I agree!

I have also used thighs, drumsticks etc but this also results in bad feedback - the boyf prefers the fillet.

I just want easy dinners to cook on weeknights and an easy life! He does help but he's not really a good cook on his own and will only attempt a few simple recipes on his own if i'm not there.

spaceylou

In a bowl mix:
1 - 2 chilli (remove seeds first)
zest lemon
mozzarella cheese

Slice each fillet to create a pocket and stuff with the filling. Cover and bake in oven for 45 min ish. Really nice served with either roast Mediterranean veg (peppers, courgettes, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes etc) or salad.

Alternatively as others have suggested, marinade the chicken in flavours overnight, get BF to cook or maybe try turkey - is it slightly less bland while still being lean?

nosietoes

I second the suggestion of extra salt in the cooking stage and a squeeze of lemon/lime juice or dash of nice vinegar. Should wake up the flavours.

Loire

Zelda247 wrote: »

When you put the lid on how long does it take to cook?

About 10 mins - slit it with a knife to be sure it's cooked through

Keane2baMused

I would imagine you need to kick the seasoning up a fair bit. I know we all should be health conscious but could you possibly be way under seasoning it?

I think if you kick that up and add extra herbs, spices etc and he still isn't happy well he will just have to put up or shut up!

Kurumba

Easy chicken Indian dishes

My fave easy go to week night dinner is:
Chicken breasts chopped in to chunks
Tin of tomatos
Onion
A pepper if wanted
And a jar of Pataks paste, tikka masala or Balti I love.
Dollop of natural yogurt if you fancy it served with rice and nann bread.

So simple and much healthier than a take away Indian!

The Hill Billy

A jar of paste! I like my curries spicy, but a half jar max would do.

Alun

The Hill Billy wrote: »

A jar of paste! I like my curries spicy, but a half jar max would do.

Exactly, the recipe on the jar says 65g or 1/4 of a jar for two, and I find that just right.

Kurumba

Sorry i should have said, i use the small jar of tikka masala paste. It's the only one i can get in tesco in the small size for some reason.
For the Balti paste etc I use less than half of the bigger jars for 4 servings.

Mrs Fox

The Hill Billy wrote: »

A jar of paste! I like my curries spicy, but a half jar max would do.

Just give him a jar and hide the drinks. That'll teach him.

discus

I find the George Foreman is great for cooking chicking. If the breast is cut into 4 equal lengths, they cook quickly and stay moist. If you coat the chicken pieces in some dry fajita spices, and lightly oil the george foreman you'll have some good (and QUICK) chicken. Serve that up with a handful of rocket leaves, rice, tortilla wraps and diced red onion... If he complains I'll eat my hat.

Keane2baMused

discus wrote: »

I find the George Foreman is great for cooking chicking. If the breast is cut into 4 equal lengths, they cook quickly and stay moist. If you coat the chicken pieces in some dry fajita spices, and lightly oil the george foreman you'll have some good (and QUICK) chicken. Serve that up with a handful of rocket leaves, rice, tortilla wraps and diced red onion... If he complains I'll eat my hat.

Does that not dry it out? The George wouldn't be known for producing the most moist meat

Minder

SarahMollie wrote: »

Now I'm of the opinion that a chicken fillet will only ever be so exciting but my BF insists that I'm just bad at cooking chicken.

Any suggestions?!?!

Try Guinea Fowl as an alternative to chicken if you can find it. You will probably have to buy the whole bird. Fillet the breast meat and cook simply - season well, pan fry to crisp the skin and finish in the oven.

You could do it as a blind taste test for the bf alongside a chicken breast cooked the same way. If he prefers the Guinea Fowl, then its not your cooking (highly unlikely in the first place) more likely to the the wide availability of mass produced flavourless chicken.

Another option to try is brining the whole chicken. This Thomas Keller recipe is a great example. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/roast_chicken_with_54406

blue_blue

Karaage is another suggestion. http://english.evidus.com/magazine/recipe/017.html You can substitute our regular 'corn flour' (i.e. corn starch) for the potato starch. But you can always easily pickup potato starch in any Asian supermarket.

Annasopra

SarahMollie wrote: »

Yeah, once or twice and yes always good quality - I buy all my meat from the butchers, its something i'd be fussy about.

I suppose my perception is that doing a roast dinner is a bit time consuming on a weekday after work. We mostly eat out on a Saturday and go to one of our families on a Sunday so a roast, just for the two of us, seems a lot.

I live with someone so often cook for two

On a Sunday I will sometimes roast a chicken.

After dinner I strip down the meat from carcass boil up the carcass for stock

On Monday then I will make risotto or chicken and mushroom pie using the stock and leftover meat

Annasopra

discus wrote: »

I find the George Foreman is great for cooking chicking. If the breast is cut into 4 equal lengths, they cook quickly and stay moist. If you coat the chicken pieces in some dry fajita spices, and lightly oil the george foreman you'll have some good (and QUICK) chicken. Serve that up with a handful of rocket leaves, rice, tortilla wraps and diced red onion... If he complains I'll eat my hat.

Noooooooooo

Never use a George foreman for cooking chicken breasts- all the moisture gets drained off and they end up like leather

Annasopra

I love this nigella recipe


https://www.nigella.com/recipes/crunchy-chicken-cutlets