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Seared and Steamed Chicken Breasts

Here’s how to keep a skinless, boneless chicken breast moist while giving it a crust, without using a lot of fat. This technique relies on two properties of the chicken breast that make it more like fish than like other meat: it cooks quickly, and it contains a fair amount of moisture. This enables you to start cooking the breasts with just a bit of fat over fairly high heat to begin browning, then lower the heat and cover the pan, which not only allows the meat to steam in its own juices but maintains the nicely browned exterior (on one side anyway). If you use mass produced commercial chicken, the results will be somewhat cottony. Free-range or kosher chickens are usually considerably better.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 4 servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, butter, or a combination
4 plump skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, (1 1/2 to 2 pounds)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup dry white wine, chicken stock, or water
1 cup peeled, seeded, and diced tomato (canned is fine; drain first)
2 tablespoons drained capers
2 tablespoons chopped pitted black olives, preferably imported
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 200°F. Heat the oil or butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot or the butter foam has subsided, season the chicken breasts well with salt and pepper and put them in the skillet, smooth (skin) side down. Turn the heat to high, then cook for about a minute until the chicken begins to brown. Turn the heat to medium and cover the pan.

    Step 2

    Cook, undisturbed, until the chicken is firm and nearly cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Uncover the skillet and transfer the chicken to an ovenproof plate; put the plate in the oven.

    Step 3

    Over high heat, add the wine and stir and scrape the pan to release any bits of chicken that have stuck to the bottom; when the liquid has reduced by about half, add the tomato and cook, stirring occasionally, for about a minute. Add the capers, olives, and all but 1 tablespoon of the parsley and cook for a minute more, stirring occasionally. Return the chicken to the sauce and turn once or twice. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley and serve.

  2. Variations

    Step 4

    Before adding the liquid in step 3, sauté a bit of onion, shallot, mushroom, or other chopped vegetable in the pan; proceed as directed, with or without the tomatoes, capers, and olives.

    Step 5

    For the stock or wine, substitute cream.

    Step 6

    Use chopped fresh basil or a few thyme leaves in place of the parsley.

From Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes From the New York Times by Mark Bittman Copyright (c) 2007 by Mark Bittman Published by Broadway Books. Mark Bittman is the author of the blockbuster Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.
TagsChicken BreastChickenPoultryTomatoVegetableOliveParsleyHerbs & SpicesMainDinnerDairy FreeNut FreeGluten FreeQuickEasyWeeknight Meals30 Minutes or LessSearCookbooks
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