Sandra's Kitchen Studio

Good Bye Rubbery Chicken--Hello Paillards

Good bye rubbery chicken breasts--Hello paillards

By Sandra A. Gutierrez

Boneless, skinless, chicken breasts are a busy cook’s best friends. Not only do they lend themselves to myriad preparations, they also cook in a matter of minutes. So why is it that often times many cooks turn these delectable cuts into chewy, rubbery and non-edible concoctions?

The answer is so obvious that it may appear overly simplistic; however sometimes the most apparent things prove to be the hardest to understand. The secret to moist, juicy, chicken breasts is all in the timing. That is, the shorter the cooking time, the more delectable and tender the chicken breasts will be. Chicken breasts are lean; remove their skins and you’ve made them even leaner. Cooking them quickly becomes even more important since they have been rid of the protective layer that seals juices in and naturally bastes them as they cook. Furthermore, the bones actually help the chicken retain moisture so by eliminating them you’ve made the breasts even more susceptible to drying out.

The first cooking tip for cooking skinless, boneless chicken breasts is to prepare them well before exposing them to any heat source. Chicken breasts need to be divided into two lobes. These lobes are generally uneven in thickness and must therefore be evened out. To do this, begin by removing the tenderloin attached to the bottom end of each breast. It is attached to a small filament and is easily pulled away from the breast meat. For tips on what to do with the tenderloins keep on reading.

The second step is to transform the chicken breasts into "paillards". You have probably encountered this French cooking term on the menus of fancy restaurants; put into simple terms, "paillard" means cutlet. Do not let the fancy cooking terms intimidate you; preparing paillards is simple and very quick. Once you learn how to make your own chicken paillards, you will be able to prepare huge batches of them and freeze them, uncooked and portioned out, for up to three months. Easy to thaw and quick to cook, paillards are a great solution for those times when time is of the essence and energy is low. Talk about delicious, nutritious, and healthy fast food!

To make a paillard, place each chicken breast half—tenderloin removed—between two sheets of plastic wrap. Using a heavy meat pounder, mallet—a heavy skillet also works well—pound the chicken gently, until it is about a quarter of an inch thick. Whenever you pound meat, or chicken, always make sure to start the pounding from the center and work your way out. As you do this, you will notice that the meat yields with ease and that a more evenly shaped cutlet is obtained. You now have a perfectly shaped paillard ready to be cooked.

Now that your chicken breasts have been totally transformed into paillards, you can introduce the element of high heat. The trick is to cook them at very high heat, for very short periods of time. The preferred cooking methods to cook paillards are grilling, sautéing or pan-frying. All three methods are utilized when food needs to be cooked quickly. Stir-frying, for instance is a variation of sautéing, where the food is cooked over direct heat and only for a short period of time.

So we get back to the question as to why many cooks transform chicken breasts into rubbery objects. To begin with when the chicken breasts are not evened out, it takes much longer to cook them; by the time the thickest part is cooked, the thinnest area of the breast has turned into rubber. Secondly, the cooking methods normally selected by most harried and hurried cooks are poaching, baking, roasting and –alas—microwaving.

All four methods are indeed inadequate when it comes to cooking boneless chicken breasts since, by definition, they require longer cooking periods. Microwaving is the exception because it cooks in minutes but dehydrates food, causing the chicken to lose its juices and thus rendering them dry. All four of these cooking methods—perfectly suited for darker meats and for bone-in cuts—will undoubtedly yield rubbery, boneless and skinless, chicken breasts.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Most prepared, pre-seasoned chicken breasts available in the freezer section of most grocery stores are in effect chicken cutlets. Look carefully and you’ll notice the tenderloins are missing and that the breasts have been pounded thinly. Now check the ingredient lists and see what is not missing—the high sodium content, the preservatives and unpronounceable ingredients. In fact, most have been injected with salty brines so that when neophyte cooks prepare them—with the wrong cooking techniques, of course—they won’t toughen up; great in theory but alas, not in practice. You decide whether the effort to cook from scratch is worth it or not.

On to those delicious chicken tenderloins that you lovingly removed from the breasts before transforming them into paillards: leftover chicken tenderloins are wonderful, fast food material. They can be sliced and quickly stir-fried with vegetables and spices. They are ideal for making Satays by pounding them thinly into strips and then skewering, grilling, and serving with spicy peanut sauces.

Of course, tenderloins can also be dredged in flour, dipped into beaten eggs and coated with bread crumbs in order to produce delectable chicken fingers that can be lightly sautéed or baked until golden. Serve these alongside homemade, baked fries and expose your children to real comfort food that is really healthy, delicious and preservative-free. By training their palates to quality foods you will be creating the next generation of gourmands.

You, my friends, are on your way to quicker and healthier cooking for yourselves and your families. Invest on a good mallet, purchase some heavy duty plastic wrap, buy that family-pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale at your warehouse outlet and get pounding. What’s for dinner? Well, paillards, or course. Ooh-la-la, now you’re cooking.

Copyright © Sandra A. Gutierrez, 2007; All Rights Reserved.

Paillards of Chicken with Mustard Sauce

4 chicken paillards

Salt and pepper

2 tsp. Olive oil

1 tsp. Thyme

¼ cup lemon juice

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

Season the chicken paillards on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large, non-stick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken paillards and sauté them on the first side for 2-3 minutes or until browned. Flip the chicken over and cook on the other side for 3-4 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken to a separate serving platter; set aside. Add the thyme to the pan and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the lemon juice and cook, over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the mustard and stir well with a wooden spoon; cook sauce for 2 minutes. Return paillards (and all juices collected in the bottom of the plate) to the sauté pan, coat with sauce and heat through for 20 seconds; place paillards on serving platter and drizzle over chicken: serve immediately. This recipe yields 4 servings.

Copyright© Sandra A. Gutierrez, 2007; All Rights Reserved.

Cleaning up refrigerator and using up ingredients

            Cleaning out the refrigerator is one of those activities that once started, can quickly veer off to produce another. You undeniably start by removing all of the items stored inside and unexpectedly end up cooking with those that are still salvageable. This impromptu style of cooking often results in delicious recipes packed with comforting flavors. 

Unless you happen to harbor only leftover Chinese takeout cartons and a few beers in your fridge, you might find that delicious possibilities await you stacked at the bottom of your refrigerator bins. However, how well you will be able to use them will depend on how you stored ingredients in the first place.

            For some reason, I have yet to find a home cook who does not agree that large vegetable bins in refrigerators are more like slow composting drawers rather than storing vessels. They are usually so deep, that by the time one finishes stacking up the produce all the way to the top, one has usually forgotten what was arranged at the very bottom.

Even if they are made of the most crystalline see-through material, it is hard to access those vegetables at the foot of the pile without having to remove all of those that lie on top. By the time most cooks reach long-forgotten veggies at the base of the drawers, they have already begun to—how shall we put it—wither and wilt with unabashed abandon.

An easy way to prevent all of this waste is to wash and organize—whether by cleaning, chopping or otherwise prepping—all of the vegetables prior to storing them in the refrigerator. Stackable containers or resealable bags are easier to store than those unsightly grocery bags with twist-ups. You would be amazed to discover the amount of space that can be saved by cutting off carrot tops, disassembling lettuce heads and chopping bell peppers before putting them away; preparing ingredients this way also makes cooking recipes much faster.

Of course, it goes without saying that certain vegetables should not be refrigerated at all, as is the case of tomatoes, onions and potatoes. A common faux pas, has home cooks storing onions and potatoes in the same refrigerated bin, without giving any consideration to the fact that not only do these not like cold temperatures, but that they also give off gases that in turn make each other rot more quickly (before you begin to store them in your pantry, remember to keep them separate from each other).

Store leeks, scallions and chives in the fridge, but don’t let avocados or garlic meet the inside of your refrigerator. Apples, by the way, should never be stored together with carrots or onions, for the same reason, although they will last longer if refrigerated than if left at room temperature.

This brings me to the subject of storing fruits, which should be left at room temperature only when they will be consumed in the few hours after they were brought home; there are a few exceptions, like berries, which should always be stored in the refrigerator. Refrigeration prevents fruits from ripening any further, thus furthering their shelf life a little bit, so make sure they are at their peak before you store fruits in the cold bin. Grapes, last much longer when kept chilled, but become sweeter when left at room temperature.

If you are in doubt as to how best to store the produce you purchase, ask vendors, or check out the labels placed near each item at most grocery stores; these not only tell you how to store them but also give you cooking suggestions . Clean and cut fresh pineapples, cantaloupes, watermelons and kiwis, before storing them in the refrigerator. Storing bananas in the fridge will make them turn black and soft, but before you decide to throw them out, consider using them as the main ingredient for baked banana breads or muffins.

Old, yet viable vegetables can be used in a variety of manners. To make a delicious refrigerator soup, chop up vegetables—such as leeks, greens, carrots, mushrooms, etc.—and add them to a pot of simmering stock; consider pureeing the soup for a delicious cream of vegetables. Or use them to make frittatas, quiches, stir-fries and sauces.

By the same token, tired fruits that are still edible but are past their prime may be transformed into delicious hot desserts, such as pies, crisps, and hot sauces. Process very ripe strawberries with whipping cream and sugar; then freeze this sorbet mixture and scoop it out when ready to serve. Chop up apples and add them to a coffee-cake batter, or use blueberries to make pancakes or waffles. Chop up pears, and peaches and sauté them in butter; then add some brown sugar, a dash of brandy and serve them over vanilla ice cream.

Make the best out of a necessary chore and clean out your refrigerator often. Discard meats, eggs and any dairy products that are old. When it comes to these, follow my adage: When in doubt, throw them out. Then after carefully discarding all inedible foods, see what you still have at hand and get cooking. A little imagination, some culinary ingenuity and a well stocked pantry will help you produce delicious meals out of salvageable ingredients from your well trusted chilling appliance.

Copyright © Sandra A. Gutierrez 2007. All rights reserved.