SeanCan'tCook
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Rarely do I find a need for using a marinade...
OK, I'll bite. How then do you get flavor out of boneless, skinless chicken breasts?
Rarely do I find a need for using a marinade...
I do it by brining.OK, I'll bite. How then do you get flavor out of boneless, skinless chicken breasts?
I do it by brining.
Yes that is true. I by ones that have not already been brined so I can do it myself and control the amount of salt and other ingredients go into mine.
........OK, I'll bite. How then do you get flavor out of boneless, skinless chicken breasts?
Breezy,
Clearly, there are two diametrically opposing schools of thought on the removing all marinade issue here. I'm certainly in no position to have an opinion, one way or the other. The obvious question that occurs to me, though, is if not the marinade, what is the crud on the bottom of the pan I had to fight so hard to get off?
And I've bought a few cookbooks specifically for chicken. First, I got The Complete Chicken Breast Cookbook by Marge Poore. A lot of the recipes were for bone in and/or skin on chciken breasts, or were pretty complicated. I next bought Low Fat Chicken Breasts (120 Healthy and Delicious recipes for Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breasts) by Diane Rozas.
120 recipes! Sounds good to me! Of the 120, I found about 5 that were interesting to me. All required buying fresh herbs, or poaching bags, etc. and were pretty expensive to make, and frankly weren't that good.
It's so frustrating for me. I go to Whattaburger, where the grilled chicken sandwich has so much flavor I eat it plain. I go to Backyard Burger, where the Blackened Chicken Breast sandwich is again so good I have them leave everything off but the slaw. I go to Outback Steakhouse, where the grilled chicken breast is excellent; ironically, better than the steaks. I ate the chicken breast there back when I still ate mammals. My friends used to tease me about going to a steakhouse twice a week and never eating steak. Charleston's, Olive Garden, Steak-N-Shake, Burger King, etc. all serve chicken breasts that are all much more flavorful than the best I've ever been able to come up with myself. They're not just edible, they're good!
Someone mentioned grilling earlier, and I used to grill a lot. I was actually pretty pleased with the steaks and pork chops I grilled, but I've never been able to get any real flavor out of those boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the grill, so I moved indoors for convenience sake. The grief and work associated with grilling is worth it if there's a flavor payofff, but not at all if there's not.
My primary dietary protein is going to be boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Of the things I eat, it's the healthiest and the one I most enjoy the taste of (except when I cook it).
I need to find ways to cook it that are first and foremost healthy, which means as little butter and salt as possible. I'm sure there is considerable butter and salt used in the preparation of the chicken breasts I enjoy so much when I eat out, but if I'm not going to cut down on that considerably, why go to the trouble and expense of cooking them myself? I'm not expecting what I cook to be as good as they are; I'd be thrilled if they were just good.
Second, I need to find ways to cook them that are simple, quick, and have easy cleanup. None of the chicken breasts I enjoy in restaurants have sauces, etc. They all have caramelized grillmarks on them, and I'd think they have fairly simple preparations
Maybe I'm just expecting too much. I know I've probably spent 200 bucks on grills, skillets, pans, grillpans, bakeware, cookbooks, etc., and I'm having no success. Honestly, if I don't see results soon, I'm just going to go back to eating out every meal. Living longer isn't necessarily a positive if you're going to be absolutely miserable doing it.
At least I have the cast iron skillet for protection in the event of a home invasion.
I always season any new CI before I use it. The 'pre-seasoned' is IMHO quite a joke. If you look at a new pre-seasoned next to a proper seasoned, the difference is huge. Pre has a dull/matte dark gray look to it, while a proper CI looks jet black & shiney.OK, so i just got my Lodge Logic square grillpan:
https://secure.lodgemfg.com/storefront/product1_new.asp?menu=logic&idProduct=3940
I've been wanting one for awhile. I would've preferred a larger one, but the price of the few larger ones I could find was way too much; this one was just 19.95.
It says it is pre-seasoned, but does it need more? If so, how much?
Also, what about care? I know you should never use soap on it, but I seem to remember my old granny cleaning her beloved cast iron frying pan with just salt, and talking about the more stuff you cooked in it without washing, the better stuff tasted.
The 'pre-seasoned' is IMHO quite a joke.
Pre has a dull/matte dark gray look to it, while a proper CI looks jet black & shiney.
Mine always turn out black & shiney when I 1st season them with the method I described.I think you are confused as to the purpose of the pre-seasoning. The jet black shiny look is what you get after seasoning and using (thus adding to the seasoning) over time. If you were to season your pan at home the first time it would not be jet black and shiny. That takes time and repeated use and seasoning.
The pre-seasoning is just the initial seasoning that needs to be done. This way you can start using the pan right away after giving it a quick wash. The process that Lodge uses is basically exactly the same process as what they recommend you do at home, just on a larger scale. The pre-seasoning was never designed to the be end of the seasoning process, just the very first step so those who were scared to use CI because seasoning intimidated them would be able to jump right in and not have to worry.