Chicken Breast Brine seasoning, for Chicken Alfredo

[jjohnston]

I am very new to actually cooking. figured it was time to move from frozen pizzas :)

I am recently started trying chicken Alfredo. I cheat and buy the already made Alfredo sauce. But here is my question...

I have been playing with brining the chicken breast. I use water, salt, sugar, and pepper. What are some other things that may really bring the flavor out in the chicken?

Also, what about blackening? Should I blacken the chicken to make it taste better? If I do, is there anything specific I should add to the brining process to help it all taste really good?

as you can tell, I am very new to all this. so sorry for all the questions.

[babetoo]

welcome

sorry i have no clue but there will be people come along that will.

babe

[kitchenelf]

You could add some smashed gloves of garlic to the brine. An herb of your choice i.e., I'm thinking rosemary would be interesting. I also put lemons in my brine - just cut in half, squeeze, and throw the halves in there too.

As far as adding anything to the brine when you blacken chicken - I can't think of a thing that would help except maybe some peppercorns.

Now that I've said all this I don't know how much all these extra ingredients will actually add to the flavor. Chicken breasts just aren't brined for that long.

When I do a whole turkey I will brine for a good 18 or so hours. It tends to pick up on all the flavors I put in.

IMHO - there's my 3 1/2 cents.

[jjohnston]

Ok, I'll try those! Thanks!!

Would you say to brine it for about 2 hours?

[kitchenelf]

I'd say that's about right!! If you really want to cram in the flavor load up on all these things - - overdo it with flavor. Maybe try in two different containers just to see if it works overloading flavors like that.

[suziquzie]

Throw a dark beer in your brine!
Oh and the chicken's brine too...
:)

[jjohnston]

I'm not a big beer drinker, not big on the taste of it. But thanks for the suggestion.

[jennyema]

If you are going to the trouble of brining chicken for chicken alfredo, you should try making your own sauce. It's very easy and tastes soooooo much bettter than jarred sauce.

I'm a big proponent of brining but IMO it's not that helpful when you are making chicken that is going to be quickly cooked and heavily sauced like it is here.

[DramaQueen]

Originally Posted by jennyema

I'm a big proponent of brining but IMO it's not that helpful when you are making chicken that is going to be quickly cooked and heavily sauced like it is here.

I'm agreeing with that. I brine pork tenderloin, turkey and whole chicken but never breasts. They cook rapidly and are already moist and tender so there is no need to brine.

[jennyema]

I usually only brine breasts if I am grilling them. And then only some of the time.

I assume that the chicken for chicken alfredo is quickly sauteed. IMO brining wouldn't hurt but wouldn't help that much either.