Fixing a recipe while you learn how to pickle: quick chicken with pickled meyer lemons

Annalena believes that one of the toughest things to learn, when you cook, is that you simply cannot trust a written recipe. And by that, she does not mean the classic stories of "Aunt Edna" who, when pressed, would give up her secret cookie recipe, but leave out an ingredient. No, no, no. Annalena speaks of recipes that have the best of intentions in mind, but simply cannot account for what she will call "relativity," for lack of a better word.

If Annalena asked ten people to go to a stove and turn the flame to "medium," she would get at least five different degrees of heat. If she told you to pull out a skillet, you may pull out a six inch one, while someone else would pull out a ten inch one, etc. And to be honest, there is absolutely no way of resolving these issues, especially in the non-baking arena. Bakers, given the need for precision in their craft, are in fact more precise, but even so: "let rise for two hours, or until doubled." Well, if it's not doubled in two hours... Or "knead firmly until smooth." What is smooth?

Annalena has these thoughts in mind because of a recipe she prepared last evening, which did not come out as it should have. That is because she followed the recipe, but also, because the recipe was not as precise as it might have been. As an experienced cook, Annalena should have caught this; however, she did not. The dish turned out ok, but it should have been much better. Here it comes, with corrections from her experience.

We start by making a very quick, lemon pickle. Now, you have all, at this point in your lives, heard of Moroccan preserved lemons, yes? If you haven't, please google them. They are not difficult to make, and they are extremely useful, but if you do not have them, and a recipe calls for them, what do you do?

Well, that is what caught Annalena's eye about the recipe, and indeed, this does produce a very reasonable version of the wonderful, slow aged preserved lemons that look disgusting but taste wonderful. Let's get to work.

For this recipe, you will need 1-1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless, chicken breast. You will also need two meyer lemons (you can use regular lemons if you like, but try to get these. Get the contact info of Kim, the Citrus bombshell from Annalena if you want REALLY good ones), and two leeks, two cloves of garlic, some rosemary, and olive oil, salt and pepper.

First thing you do, is cut the chicken breast into strips, or chunks. Toss it together with a tablespoon of chopped rosemary (or, thyme, or both), a tablespoon of oil, a teaspoon of salt, and a teaspoon of fresh ground pepper . Put this to the side.

Get a pot of water going. No salt the first time around, and while it's coming to boil, slice the meyer lemons . You will want 7-8 slices per lemon. Drop them into the boiling water, for five minutes, no longer. Get them out and drain them. You'll see that the peel has gotten a bit translucent, and the pulp will have virtually disappeared.

Now, empty that pot, and add just one cup of water, with two tablespoons of sugar, and a teaspoon of salt. Add the lemons, bring it to a boil, and simmer for three minutes. Then, drain everything, and let those lemons dry. You can use paper towel here.

If you taste one, you will get a flavor very strongly reminiscent of the aged guys.

Slice up your leeks, and chop your garlic. Now, we're ready to cook, and this is where you have to be careful, as Annalena learned.

According to the recipe, you add two tablespoons of oil to a hot skillet, such that "the oil shimmers almost immediately." That will not happen. Heat it until you do begin to see a shimmer. To get that effect, however, you need the right sized skillet. This was not clear from the recipe, and Annalena used her BIG skillet. DO NOT go any larger than 8 inches around here. IF you do, you will scorch things. (Don't ask how Annalena knows this). Add the lemons, and, contrary to what the original recipe says, do not wait for them to carmelize. Indeed, the recipe carried a picture and those lemons were NOT carmelized. Rather, let them cook for about a minute or two, and then add the leeks and stir everything together, for another two minutes. Again, if you use a very large skillet, you will burn the leeks (again, don't ask). Finally, add the garlic, and cook for half a minute.

Now, at this point, the recipe clearly states that you should push the vegetable mixture to the side, and add the chicken, which you will then cook for ten minutes.

Annalena has two comments here. If you leave those vegetables in for another ten minutes, again, you will have more than your fair share of carmelization. And if you cook the chicken, cut up as it is, for ten minutes, you will have cooked , indeed, OVERCOOKED, chicken. So, ragazzi, Annalena suggests that you pull those veggies and lemons out, and move them to a bowl. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan, and add the chicken. Annalena agrees with leaving the chicken alone for 3-4 minute so that a good sear develops, but not with cooking it for another five minutes, "until it's no longer pink." That will happen in 2 minutes. When it does, add the vegetables back, toss everything together and, if you happen to be lucky enough to have a third meyer lemon, squeeze the juice over everything (Annalena cannot recommend a regular lemon here: too sour).

This is, ultimately, an easy dish to prepare, and it is not all that obnoxious, nutritionally. There are four tablespoons of oil in it, and you COULD stretch this to four portions, with adequate vegetables and starch. No one can object to boneless chicken breasts, and again, it's a good dish.

Try it. Get in touch with Ms. Bomb. And let Annalena know how it worked for you.