Best Poached Chicken Chicken Breast Rick Bayless Recipes

POACHED CHICKEN (CHICKEN BREAST) - RICK BAYLESS

Steps:

• Place onion, water, and salt in a 2-quart saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Add the chicken (plus addtional hot water to cover, if necessary), skim off any new foam that rises during the first minute of simmering, add herbs and bay leaves, partially cover and simmer for 13 minutes over medium heat.
• Remove the pot from the heat and let the checken cool in the broth, if there is time.
• Skin and bone the chicken, then shred the meat into small pieces, Sprinkle with salt before using, unless directed otherwise in your recipe.

POACHED CHICKEN BREAST (CROCK POT)

Steps:

• Place the chicken in the slow cooker and pour over the broth. Cover and cook on LOW for 1-1/2 - 2 hours or until cooked. Let cool.
• I chop the chicken and lay it flat in small freezer bags. By using this method, you can break off any amount of chicken that you need and it thaws out quicker. The chicken will keep frozen for 3 months.
• Note: I would start checking to see if the chicken is cooked after 1-1/4 hours. (The original recipe stated 8 hours but taking it out after 6 the chicken was so overcooked, it cut into strings) Alot of the timing dedpends on the crockpot and/or size of chicken breast. Remember, the timing will change if you add/subtract the amount of chicken breast using. The success of this recipe depends on the chicken broth you are using. I use Major chicken broth concentrate -- Campbell chicken broth would work very well. Knoor's chicken cubes are way too salty and the color is not very appealing.

CHICKEN ENCHILADA SUIZAS (RICK BAYLESS)

Steps:

• For fresh tomatoes: Roast the tomatoes and chiles on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, until they're darkly roasted (they'll be blackened in spots), about 6 minutes. Flip them over and roast the other side-5 or 6 minutes more will give you splotchy-black and blistered tomatoes that are cooked through. Cool. Working over your baking sheet, pull off and discard the blackened tomato skins and, for round tomatoes, cut out the hard "cores" where the stems were attached. Transfer tomatoes and chiles to a food processor or blender, along with all the juices on the baking sheet. Blend to a smooth puree.
• For canned tomatoes: In a small dry skillet, roast the chiles over medium heat, turning regularly, until they're soft and splotchy-black, about 5 minutes. Place in a blender or food processor along with the drained canned tomatoes. Blend to a smooth puree.
• In a medium-size (4- or 5-quart) pot (preferably a Dutch oven or Mexican cazuela), heat the oil or lard over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly, until golden, about 7 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high, and, when noticeably hotter, stir in the tomato puree. Cook, stirring, until darker in color and thickened to the consistency of tomato paste, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the broth, partially cover and simmer 15 minutes. Taste and season with salt, usually about 1/2 teaspoon. The sauce should be a slightly soupy consistency-not as thick as spaghetti sauce. If it is too thick, stir in a little additional broth. Keep warm over low heat.
• Other preliminaries. Stir the crema (or one of its stand-ins) into the sauce. Put the chicken in a bowl and stir 1/2 cup of the sauce mixture into it. Taste and season with additional salt if you think it needs it. Have the cheese at the ready.
• Heat the oven to 350°. Smear about 1/4 cup of the sauce over the bottom of 4 to 6 nine-inch individual ovenproof baking/serving dishes or smear about 1 cup of the sauce over the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish. Lay the tortillas out on a baking sheet (2 sheets if you have them, for more even heating), and lightly brush or spray both sides of the tortillas with oil. Bake just to warm through and soften, about 3 minutes. Stack the tortillas and cover with a towel to keep warm.
• Working quickly so the tortillas stay hot and pliable, roll a portion of the chicken into each tortilla, then line them all up in the baking dishes. Douse evenly with the remaining sauce, then sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until the enchiladas are hot through (the cheese will have begun to brown), about 15 minutes. Garnish with onion rings and cilantro sprigs. These are best served piping hot from the oven.
• MAKE AHEAD The sauce can be made a day or two ahead; refrigerate covered. Once the tortillas have been heated in the oven, you need to work quickly and steadily toward serving in order to preserve their beautiful texture. Once out of the oven, the finished dish softens to near mush over a period of 15 to 20 minutes.

POACHED CHICKEN BREASTS WITH TOMATILLOS AND JALAPEñOS

Steps:

• Place racks in the top and bottom third of the oven and heat to 275 degrees. In the microwave or in a small pot on the stove, heat chicken stock until it comes to a simmer.
• Place chicken in a small baking dish and cover with hot chicken stock.
• On a rimmed baking sheet, toss together tomatillos, jalapeños, 2 tablespoons oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and cumin seeds. Spread into a single layer on the sheet, then nudge the tomatillos aside to make room in 1 corner for a small ramekin. Fill ramekin with garlic and remaining 4 tablespoons oil or more as needed to cover the garlic.
• Place chicken on top oven rack until chicken is cooked through (a thermometer inserted in the center should read 155 degrees), 55 minutes to 1 hour and 10 minutes. At the same time, bake tomatillos on bottom rack, tossing occasionally, until they are tender, and garlic is light golden, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. If chicken is ready before the tomatillos, remove it from the oven and leave it in the pan covered in stock to keep it warm until everything is done.
• Use a slotted spoon to remove garlic from oil and coarsely chop. Remove chicken from stock (save stock for another use; it can be frozen for up to 3 months), and slice the meat.
• To assemble, toss together tomatillos, chopped garlic, cilantro, scallions, lime zest and salt to taste. Drizzle fresh lime juice and garlic oil all over the chicken and avocado if you like, and season with salt. Serve with the tomatillo salsa.

SOLO CHICKEN BREAST POACHED IN BEER

Steps:

• Place a thawed chicken breast in a preheated 8 inch cast iron frying pan or one with a non stick surface and sear each side for 2 minutes.
• Add warm beer and poach the chicken uncovered for 15 minutes.
• Bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil, and after the chicken has been poaching for 8 minutes, add the dried pasta to the boiling water.
• After the chicken has cooked for another 8 minutes, remove the chicken and add the onion to the poaching liquid.
• Dice the chicken, return it to the frying pan, drain the pasta, add it to the frying pan, and add the diced olives.
• Cook mixture for another 2 minutes, and serve.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

LACQUERED CHICKEN IN CLASSIC RED MOLE - RICK BAYLESS

Steps:

• Preliminaries: On a rimmed baking sheet, roast the tomatillos 4 inches below a very hot broiler until splotchy black and thoroughly soft, about 5 minutes per side. Scrape into a large bowl. In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the sesame seeds, stirringly nearly constantly, until golden, about 5 minutes. Scrape half of them in with the tomatillos. Reserve the remainder for sprinkling on the chicken.
• Brown other mole ingredients: Turn on an exhaust fan or open a kitchen door or window. In a very large soup pot (I typically use a 12-quart stainless steel stock pot), heat the lard or oil over medium. When quite hot, fry the chiles, three or four pieces at a time, flipping them nearly constantly with tongs until their interior side has changed to a lighter color, about 20 or 30 seconds total frying time. Don't toast them so darkly that they begin to smoke-that would make the mole bitter. As they're done, remove them to a large bowl, being careful to drain as much fat as possible back into the pot. Cover the toasted chiles with hot tap water and let rehydrate 30 minutes, stirring frequently to insure even soaking.
• Remove any stray chile seeds left in the fat. With the pot still over medium heat, fry the garlic and almonds, stirring regularly, until browned (the garlic should be soft), about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove to the tomatillo bowl, draining as much fat as possible back into the pot.
• Add the raisins to the hot pot. Stir for 20 or 30 seconds, until they've puffed and browned slightly. Scoop them out, draining as much fat as possible back into the pot, and add to the tomatillos. Set the pan aside off the heat.
• To the tomatillo mixture, add the cinnamon, black pepper, anise, cloves, bread and chocolate. Add 2 cups water and stir to combine.
• Blend, strain, cook: Into a large measuring cup, tip off the chiles' soaking liquid. Taste the liquid: if it's not bitter, discard all abut 6 cups of the liquid. (if you're short, add water to make up the shortfall). If bitter, pour it out and measure 6 cups water. Scoop half of the chiles into a blender jar, pour in half of the soaking liquid (or water) and blend to a smooth puree. Press through a medium-mesh strainer into a large bowl; discard the bits of skin and seeds that don't pass through the strainer. Repeat with the remaining chiles.
• Return the soup pot to medium heat. When quite hot, pour in the chile puree-it should sizzle sharply and, if the pan is sufficiently hot, the mixture should never stop boiling. Stir every couple of minutes until the chile puree has darkened and reduced to the consistency of tomato paste, about a half hour. (I find it useful to cover the pot with an inexpensive spatter screen to catch any spattering chile.).
• In two batches, blend the tomatillo mixture as smoothly as possible (you may need an extra 1/2 cup water to keep everything moving through the blades), then strain it in to the large bowl that contained the chiles. When the chile paste has reduced, add the tomatillo mixture to the pot and cook, stirring every few minutes until considerably darker and thicker, 15 to 20 minutes. (Again, a spatter screen saves a lot of cleanup.).
• Simmer: Add the broth to the pot and briskly simmer the mixture over medium to medium-low heat for about 2 hours for all the flavors to come together and mellow. If the mole has thickened beyond the consistency of a cream soup, stir in a little water. Taste and season with salt (usually about 4 teaspoons) and the sugar.
• You're now ready to make Lacquered Chicken or you can cool, cover and refrigerate until you're ready to use. When you're ready to proceed, rewarm the mole.
• Make the chicken: Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
• In a small (2-quart) saucepan, mix together 1 cup of the mole with the agave nectar or corn syrup. Simmer over medium heat until glossy and reduced to 1 cup, about a half hour. On rimmed baking sheets, lay out the chicken in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 45 minutes (the chicken should be tender to the bone at this point-leg-and-thigh portions should register 165 degrees at the thickest part on an instant-read thermometer).
• Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Tip off the juices that have collected around the chicken, then brush the pieces liberally with the glossy mole mixture. Sprinkle with the reserved sesame seeds. Bake for 10 minutes to set the glaze.
• Remove from the oven, let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes, then slide into a very low oven to keep warm until serving time-preferably no longer than 30 minutes.
• Serve each portion of chicken with about 1/2 cup of warm mole, decorated with watercress or flat-leaf parsley and sprinkled with any left over sesame seeds.