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Stepping up your cooking with one easy technique!

by ‎09-22-2014 11:46 AM - edited ‎07-29-2015 01:42 PM

My first sign of the Fall showed up this week.

 

 

So pretty!  I've been a little worried that we won't have the spectacular colors this year that we usually do because the weather in my area has been so out of character this summer.  Of course, I have no idea what makes the colors more spectacular some years than others, so I may be worrying needlessly. Although I never really leave my kitchen at any season of the year (I split my time between kitchen and grill in the summer), with the first signs of Fall showing, it indicates to me that I'll be returning to my kitchen full time for the next several months.  

 

That's sort of exciting to me because I do love being in the kitchen. I love making new meals and learning new things, whether it be learning about a new ingredient, a cooking technique, or a recipe. My latest fascination is with Middle Eastern foods (think hummus, falafel, tabouleh, chickpeas, lentils, bulghur, saffron, mint). I've been loving Diana Henry's new cookbook "A Change of Appetite", drooling over Greg and Lucy Malouf's latest release "Malouf", and am eagerly awaiting Yotam Ottolenghi's next book of vegetarian Middle Eastern foods "Plenty More". I believe that if you can learn at least one new thing in the kitchen each month, your cooking improves by leaps and bounds. 

 

So, today I decided to give you one little ten-minute lesson on a technique that many of you may already be proficient at, but might be new to others of you. I wanted to show you how easy it can be to make a pan sauce if you have the right tools to help you out - a good pan and a good spatula. I love making pan sauces because they are easy, quick and delicious. Plus, they force you to give your meat time to rest, which helps the meat stay moist and juicy. On top of it all, it uses ONE pan to cook the food AND make the sauce and that's only one pan to clean up. I'm going to be making pan sauces all day on Wednesday, September 24th using the fantastic Today's Special Value(K41304) - a Cook's Essentials EIGHTEEN piece set of porcelain enamel cookware. Talk about having the right tools for the job! This set gives you everything you need (and more!) to make pan sauces no matter what or how much you are cooking. Interested in adding one more technique to your cooking repertoire?  Give it a try.

 

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Chicken Breasts with Tomato Balsamic Sauce

 

 

 

 

Serves 4 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

 

 

 

4 (6-ounce) chicken breasts

 

 

 

salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

 

 

olive oil

 

 

 

2 shallots, thinly sliced

 

 

 

1 clove garlic, smashed

 

 

 

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

 

 

 

2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered (or chopped fresh tomatoes)

 

 

 

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley or basil leaves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Directions:

 

 

 

1.     Pre-heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add olive oil to the skillet and sear the chicken breasts, cooking for about 3 to 5 minutes on each side (depending on thickness), or until firm to the touch. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

 

 

 

2.     Add the shallot and garlic to the skillet and cook for two minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and simmer until it has almost disappeared. Immediately add the tomatoes and toss well. Cook until the tomatoes soften slightly – just a minute or two. Toss in the basil or parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.

 

 

 

3.     Pour over the chicken and serve.