Ok, ragazzi, today we're going to approach an ingredient we all know and... like. Chicken breasts. IF Annalena can make it through (she's listening to Mahler's 2nd symphony and is already a wreck).
Annalena has countless stories of her friends essentially living on boneless, skinless chicken breasts during periods of their lives when they need to "slim down" or "look lean" etc, etc, etc.
More power to them. Annalena has given up. Not with EVERYTHING mind you, but with trying to turn boneless, skinless chicken breasts into something that even approaches a truly tasty meal (she will take any suggestions you have). So what follows is a recipe for boneless chicken breast WITH THE SKIN. Annalena thinks that it may very well redeem the skinless varieties as well, but she'd rather not try it.
Look, ragazzi, if you look at things in isolation, you will wind up being someone who eats nothing but kale and distilled water for the rest of your life. You must balance things: do not eat a meal of quiche and fried chicken, and try to limit the bacon with the French toast to 8 slices (in fact, try to limit the French toast!). And again, keep in mind that the idea is NOT a sprint: if you happen to have a dinner that is absolutely LOADED with no goodnesses, and you can't resist, well, do your best to balance with your other meals during the day. And take a walk. Let's have a show of hands: how many of you have taken a walk of at least 30 minutes, 3-5 times over the last week?
MM HMMM. And you wonder why you want boneless, skinless, chicken breasts? How hard can it be to walk. Get to it. And make this dish.
Originally, this recipe called for chicken breast on the bone. Annalena did not have them (although she loves them). So, looking at the original recipe, she made the only modification she needed to, which was to lower the amount of time the thing cooks in the oven.
This is not a dish for the timid of spices; however, the cooked spice crust loses some of its "venom" as compared to the raw component. Go for it, and have something cooling with it: like plain boiled corn and... kale. In the plate below.
First, let's get our spice mix together. You need Spanish paprika. This is the GOOD stuff: you may see it as pimenton, and it comes in various degrees of heat: picante means you have some really spicy stuff. Dolce means it's less hot and almost, well, sweet, like it says. So, use your judgement. And your knowledge of your heat quotient, because we're going to add some more heat too. (Incidentally, these Spanish paprikas are roasted. That's why you need the SPANISH one). For every two, boneless, or bone in, chicken breasts, you need a full tablespoon of the paprika. Mix this with another teaspoon of ground cumin, and one of mustard (use yellow), and one of fennel. Now, it is hard to find ground fennel, so put everything together, if you have any whole seeds, and put it in a spice grinder. Annalena uses an old coffee bean grinder. Add a teaspoon of black pepper to this. Also, a healthy teaspoon of salt.
Dry off your chicken breasts. Now rub that dry stuff all over the skin of your chicken. You've got plenty. As you rub it, you'll be releasing fragrant oils, and you will LOVE yourself for making this.
Try to let this sit for an hour or too if you can, but if you can't, it ain't no big deal. When you're ready to cook, coat a pan just large enough to contain all of your chicken with vegetable oil, and turn the heat to medium. Also, turn on your oven high: 425.
The recipe, as many do, call for you to wait until the oil ripples. Annalena has never seen this, but she can "smell" the oil when it's ready. You'll get something like a popcorn smell from the movies (from the days when popcorn was REAL and they made it there. If you're too young for that... look for the ripple).
Put the spice end of the chicken into the oil, and fry away for 6 minutes or so. DON'T. TOUCH. THE. CHICKEN. Does that need clarification? DON'T..... TOUCH.... THE.... CHICKEN....
After six minutes, you may in fact touch the chicken. You MUST. Get your tongs, flip it over, and then move your pan into the oven, for about another six minutes. Then, protect your hands, take the chicken out of the pan, and drain off the fat, while the chicken cools. You want it to cool for five minutes.
Just like with the cauliflower we made a little while ago, ragazzi, this is going to fill your home with the most wonderful of smells that you can imagine, and everyone is going to love you.
And it's so easy. Make some rice while you're waiting, or corn, or couscous, and make a vegetable. And you'll have people (including yourself), asking you to make these again. And you will. And you WON'T.. TOUCH.. THE .. CHICKEN...
Next time, carini, Annalena goes back to one of her favorite games, which is ripping off recipes from famous chefs: we're going to make pea pancakes, with pea ragout.
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