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Last night, I taught my friend Shay how to poach chicken breasts. She's going through a tough time at work, is coming down with the newest cold on the market, and couldn't bear the idea of cooking for herself. Food is harder for her than it is for most, as she's got some food allergies that preclude simply calling out for some Egg Drop soup from the local Chinese place. But she can eat chicken and so we poached.
We brought a pot of water to a boil and added salt, pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, a bit of olive oil and a few herbs from the small patch in the yard (if you don't have any fresh herbs, that's okay. A cracked clove of garlic is also be a nice addition to the poaching liquid). When the water was rolling, we dropped the chicken breasts in. I looked at her and said, "Now we wait about ten minutes." She said with surprise, "That's it?" I replied, "Yep, that's it."
There is so much you can do with some poached chicken. You can shred it and, with the addition of a little mayo and spices, turn it into a simple chicken salad. You can cool it down, slice it, and eat it on toast. You can dice it, flavor up the poaching liquid a bit, add it back and have a simple little soup. Or, as my mom likes to you, you can also boil up a potato and eat it with the chicken, salting each bite as you go. The thing to remember about poached chicken is that once you've got the water boiling, most of the work is already done. After a long day, when all you need is a comforting, protein-packed meal before you tumble into bed, remember poached chicken.
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10-10-2008 @1:33PM KF said... One of my first jobs was working for a lawfirm owned by Chinese attorneys, who had a 90 year old grandmother show up to cook from her wok, in the kitchen, every single day. She taught me quite a lot, including how she poached a whole chicken. After it was cleaned and dressed, she brought a soup stock pot up to boil with the same spices you mention here, and lots of Schezwan peppercorns, and dropped into the entire bird. She let it boil only for about 5-10 minutes, then turned the heat off and kept it covered for one hour. She'd pluck it out, let it cool, and shred this chicken and all its parts, flicking the bones with her fingers out the window, into the yard (true!). We'd use the chicken for all sorts of things. Makes the best chicken salad EVER. She never spoke a word of English. She'd slap my hands if I did something wrong, or nod and smile if I did something right.
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10-10-2008 @5:12PM Rt said... It's great as a leftover as well. Put in a pita bread pocket or, my favorite, a flour tortilla as a wrap.
You'll wonder why you don't make these simple sandwiches more often.
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10-10-2008 @5:35PM Stef said... I'm hoping you shut the heat off after the water was "rolling" and before you put in the chicken, because that is boiled chicken and not poached. A true poach is to have the water hot, just at the boiling point, but with no bubbles. Although I frequently bring the water to a boil, drop in my poached item, take the pot off of the heat and put a lid on it and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Perfect every time!
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10-10-2008 @9:11PM Rt said... Gee Stef, get technical. I don't know about others but all I need is a guideline. Do you think cooking is rocket science?
"Although I frequently bring the water to a boil, drop in my poached item, take the pot off of the heat and put a lid on it and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Perfect every time!"
Even here you admit your own 'bending' of the 'rules'. So that 10 minutes is good for every food? "my poached item" can include eggs, chicken, fish, vegetables - anything one can poach. 10 minutes works for all of them, who'da thunk it?
If anyone out there can tell the difference between chicken that was boiled, as opposed to poached, please let me know.
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10-10-2008 @9:39PM Rt said... I meant to add about KF's post.
I had the pleasure of eating a 'chicken and dumplings' dish that was just a boiled whole chicken with a can (what ever they call those cardboard tubes) of biskits.
I don't know the spices but I did see the process. Boil and de-bone the chicken, use the water as the base, add ingredients (flour, spices, whatever she put in there), add the chicken back to the liquid, and put the store-bot biskits on the top as the dumplings.
When the biskits cook the dish is done. Amazing. I was very impressed with my exposure to Texas rural cooking - flavor is flavor.
Personally, I would use Bisquick. It's more work but mercy they are killer biskits.
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