Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Anchovies Elevate a Pan-Seared Chicken Dish

There’s nothing wrong with a dinner of pan-seared chicken seasoned with salt and pepper. But there’s everything right about the same chicken when you add anchovies, capers, garlic and plenty of lemon to the pan.

What was once timid and a little dull turns vibrant, tangy and impossible to stop eating. And the only real extra work is chopping the garlic and a little parsley for garnish.

In this dish, the cut of chicken is less important than the pungent pan sauce. Most people will probably want to use the workhorse of all poultry dinners, the boneless, skinless breasts. But being a dark-meat lover, I prefer the thighs. They cook nearly as quickly, and have a greater margin of error in terms of doneness. Overcook your breasts by even a minute, and you’ll get dry, tough meat. Thighs are more forgiving. However, if your family insists on white meat, you can substitute breasts and subtract about 3 minutes from the cooking time.

Although you can make this dish entirely on the stove top, I take a cue from chefs and finish it in the oven. It cooks more evenly there, with less monitoring. This frees you up to toss a salad and slice up a crusty loaf of bread for mopping up the juices. If you love anchovies and garlic, you won’t want to leave even a drop behind.

Recipe: Garlicky Chicken With Lemon-Anchovy Sauce

by Melissa Clark, NY Times |  Read more:
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