mutant chicken breasts....

[mike_c]

I bought some boneless skinless chicken breasts at Costco a few weeks ago-- they were already individually wrapped, so I just emptied them into the freezer and never really paid much attention to them. Today I went rooting around in the freezer-- somewhat of a paleological project, since the top strata is regularly mined but the bottom layers tend to fossilize-- and pulled out a couple of those chicken breasts to thaw. They're HUGE. I mean, each is a standard half-breast with the lateral muscle attached, but I've never seen anything like these monsters. I left one in the 'fridge-- posting the recipe for stew chicken recently gave me a taste, so I'm going to try stew chicken for one in the slow cooker tomorrow morning. It won't really be the same without the skin and I might have to add some additional fat, but it's an experiment. Thing is, I'm not sure I can get one of these breasts into my mini-crockpot along with the other ingredients!

The other is simmering thusly:

1 SERIOUS HUGH !!!1111 chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces and tossed with a little lemon pepper (about 2 tsp or so
1 shallot, peeled and chopped
2 small sweet red peppers, seeded and chopped (each is about the size of a big jalapeno, but sweet rather than hot)
1 large clove garlic, sliced
1 Tbsp capers, rinsed and chopped
couple of handfuls of french green beans
1 Tbsp good olive oil
1 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup white wine (truthfully I just dumped what was in the glass into the skillet)
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp hot paprika
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
kosher salt and fresh black pepper

Saute the chicken pieces in the olive oil until browned, adding the shallots and peppers, about half way through, then the garlic, capers, and thyme a little later. Add the liquids and scrape up the crusty bits stuck to the skillet, add the paprika(s) and stir, then scatter the green beans on top. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the liquid is reduced to a thick gravy (there won't be much-- just enough to coat everything). Watch it closely at the end to make sure it doesn't burn. Season with salt and pepper at some point near the end.

My first thought was to serve this over couscous, but I don't have any, and that got me to thinking about preserved lemons, which I also don't have at the moment, so I think I'll just dump it on a plate and eat it as is. I think there'll be leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

on edit-- eating it now, and it's REALLY good. Quite spicy from the hot paprika, too.

[SoCalDem]

1. I used to buy their frozen bonelss chicken breasts..they ARE hugh!

I wuit buying them when they started carrying only skinless. We prefer the ones with skin, so now I must buy them at the regular store and bone themmm They punish you if you refuse to buy the skinless ones.. The way I fix them I NEED the skin.. we skin them after they are cooked :pout:

I do miss those big ones though:)

[liberalhistorian]

2. Hey, Mike,

I love chicken as much as you do, maybe you can fix that for me when I'm there in March!

:hi:

[mike_c]

3. it will be my pleasure!

:hi:

[amerikat]

4. Speaking of big chicken breasts.....

I get mine from this guy.

[Justpat]

5. This sounds good - and easy.

I'm going to try it. Thanks.