Last weekend my mom was in town for a visit, and on Friday night I came home and she had cooked a ton of food—the house smelled amazing! I can’t tell you how luxurious it was to come home and have dinner already almost done. She cooked loads of gorgeous yellow beets, green beans with shallots, roasted potatoes, delicata squash and sautéed chicken. We were set up with enough leftover that I didn’t have to cook anything from scratch all week.
The happy scene in the kitchen:
Beets are just so jewel-like. These were roasted and peeled, then sliced and dressed with a simple dressing to accompany a lovely arugula salad with goat cheese and walnuts.
Autumn colors! Orange beets, yellow squash.
Delicata are so delicious–roasted cut side down, the edges caramelize. We serve them with butter, salt and pepper, and they are creamy and sweet.
It sounds ridiculous, but I avoid cooking chicken; it makes me feel insecure. I have had fairly successful experiences so far, but I hate pounding the breasts flat, and I’m paranoid about overcooking. My mom cooked chicken on the stove to demonstrate how simple it is (this really does seem silly-simple, but oh well!).
After cleaning and pounding the breasts to an even thickness, pat them dry and rub them with olive oil, salt and pepper:
Get a heavy pan good and hot, then place the chicken in:
After a couple minutes flip the chicken, admire its lovely golden crust, then COVER while it finishes cooking. This is the step I didn’t think of, so the chicken tended to start burning before cooking through. This keeps it very, very juicy.
Edited to add better instructions from Mom: “Cook the first side 3-4 minutes until a nice crust forms (don’t move it or it won’t); cover and cook 2-3 minutes. Check for done-ness by touching the meat; soft and squishy means it’s still raw, springy means done, and firm means over-done. All meat continues cooking once it’s off the heat and it needs to rest a few minutes to resorb its juices before you eat it.
Easy! Here is our delicious dinner:
As for the leftovers, we ate some over the weekend, and I used half of the remaining chicken in an absorption pasta with some of the arugula tossed in at the last minute:
The other half I added to pasta with tomato sauce for a very last-minute dinner with a friend from B’s b-school class last night.
How do you make the absorption pasta? It sounds – and looks – so good!
As for cooking times, in a hot pan, cook the first side 3-4 minutes until a nice crust forms (don’t move it or it won’t); cover and cook 2-3 minutes. Check for done-ness by touching the meat; soft and squishy means it’s still raw, springy means done, and firm means over-done. All meat continues cooking once it’s off the heat and it needs to rest a few minutes to resorb its juices before you eat it. I like to serve it sliced; usually you can get more servings out of a piece and I think it is prettier on the plate.
Yellow beets! I’ve never seen such things before. Looks yummy.
Mom- Thanks! I added those notes in. Re. the pasta, I blogged it ages ago: http://katek.wordpress.com/2007/01/06/absorption-pasta-for-two/ and Bittman also has a slightly different method. He cooks his uncovered; I’ve had better luck covering it. We can make it at Christmas!
Josh- Off to the farmer’s market with you! Beets come in tons of gorgeous colors, including orange, yellow, pink and the classic beet red. Yum.
What deliciosity! A total bumper crop of yummy!
I’m chicken shy, too – I tend to dry mine out – so I cook “the other white meat” instead. I’ll give this stove top method a try – it looks very simple and tasty…
Ever since I read your absorbtion method post, it’s the only way I cook pasta. I’ve taken to doing it uncovered – basically, I treat the pasta like risotto. It’s amazing how creamy, firm, and flavorful plain pasta can be!
Kate, that kitchen! It looks like a happy home…
Pork’s my stand-by, too, Germi! But I’m trying to break out. Tonight I think I’m going to make the parmesan-crusted chicken I blogged about way back last fall. What have you been cooking lately?
And absorption pasta is my new stand-by, too. Ben even suggests it if I’m asking him what he feels like eating and we haven’t had it in a while. I think he calls it “that special pasta,” with a stirring motion. He’s always amused by the crazy clattering when I’m stirring it around: hard pasta in the dry pan before adding stock. YUM.
YUM! I want to be adopted by your mom!
I hate sauteing chicken too. I think I rush it too much. Would much rather roast it, except for bone in chicken thight, but now that I have your mom’s tip I’m excited to give it another go! Thanks, Mom.