What can you do with chicken?

Chicken is one of the most versatile and protein-laden foods we have in our normal diets, but I have always found chicken breast to be my least favourite part of the bird because it tends to dry out and be rather low on flavour. But since I've been looking for protein sources that we can grab easily during the week, I've also discovered this really great way to prepare it - brining.

Brining is a bit of a fad with turkey and the like, and I've taken a basic turkey brine recipe from Food & Wine Magazine and adjusted it, both for quantity (I'm not making 18 pounds of chicken breast here) and some of the ingredients. If you decide to try this, play with the ingredients yourself and find a combination that gives you the seasoning style you like. There are only 3 basic requirements to the recipe:
       An acidic base such as vinegar or fruit juice
       Sugar
       Salt

My brining liquid for 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts is made up of:
About 1/3 to 1/2 cup apple juice
3/4 cup water
1/4 apple, skin on, cut in half
1/4 or so orange, skin on, cut in 2 or 3 pieces
3-4 whole cloves
2 sage leaves
1 -2 sprigs of thyme
8 whole black peppercorns
1 shake of red pepper flakes (not too much)
2 or 3 shakes of dried ancho or chipotle chili pepper
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar

If you don't have the fresh herbs, you can substitute dried or ground versions.  Put all the above into a small pot and heat until boiling and the sugar has dissolved into the liquid. Take it from the heat and add another 2 cups of liquid. When this is cooled down, take the chicken breasts and poke them all over with a small sharp skewer or a fork and find a large enough container to hold them and the brining liquid. If the liquid doesn't cover the chicken, add some more water. Cover and place in the fridge for about 12 hours or overnight.

When you are ready to cook the chicken, remove it from the brine and dispose of the liquid. The first time I made this I didn't add any other seasoning and the chicken was OK but a little bland. Since then I have been giving it a little kick with a dry rub made of garlic powder (about 1 tbsp.), dried ground coriander (about 1 tsp.) and ancho chili pepper (about 1 tsp.) Mix them together and rub all over the chicken before it goes into the roasting dish.

You can use any covered roasting dish - a roasting pan, a heavy Pyrex type glass pan with foil covering, a Dutch oven - to make this dish. My preference, just because I have one, is the German clay pot, the Roehmertopf. Just put the chicken in the dish, cover and cook at 375°F for about 1 hour.

When it comes out of the oven, take it from the dish, let it sit for a couple of minutes, and then cut it up as desired. I like to take about half of it for sandwiches so I just slice it up, and the other half for chicken salad so I shred that part.

So there you go, high protein to add to salads, sandwiches or even soups all week!

A quick Fitbit update:  We've been using our Fitbits for about 1 month now and we're happy to report that not only are we starting to feel a little thinner around the waist, but Larry has already lost 5 pounds - by eating more!

Next time - Desserts and snacks can be healthy without being boring. And I'll give you a link to a great site for calculating the nutritional value of the recipes you 'cook up' yourself!