Recipe Do you BRINE chicken breasts before baking?

In what and for how long?

 

Thanks snowy, I just put 2 cut up breasts in a mix of salt and brown sugar as a trial....

 

Hard to say if there was difference, I used them in a stir fry.....wondering if I should brine after pounding them for chicken marsala with mushrooms...

 

I don't usually brine, but I also tend not to make just breasts, in part since Mrs. Levite likes the white meat, but I like dark, and in part because I prefer to roast the whole chicken if I can, since it turns out more flavorful and juicy that way.

But on the occasions I make pieces instead of the whole bird, I like to marinate everything well. I use a lot of different marinades depending on how I'll be cooking and saucing the chicken, but for a relatively basic baked chicken, I take my parts (bone-in and skin-on, since they'll come out better that way, even if you want to remove the skin and bones before serving), rub them well with half a clove of garlic (per piece), then rub them generously with sea salt, cracked pepper, paprika, and a very small bit each of cinnamon and sumac. Then I put them in a big ziplock bag with half an onion, the halved cloves of garlic (plus a few more, crushed), the juice of 3 lemons per 2 pieces of chicken (putting some of the squeezed-out lemon pieces in the bag with the chicken), and a generous splash each of EVOO and of dry white wine. I shake up the bag a bit to ensure all pieces get coated, then let it marinate in the fridge for anywhere from 2-12 hours. When I take the pieces out to put them in the pan, I may dust them with a bit more of the spices, and sprinkle on a little more EVOO. I use a pan with a flat roasting rack, but under the rack, in the bottom of the pan, I pour a generous splash of the marinade, and put in the cloves of garlic and lemon pieces as well. Then into the oven at 400 for 35-50 minutes, depending on how many pieces and of what size I am cooking.

 

Levite,
Quite a process, we usually use skinless breasts.
I'll have to give it a try, (but how about rubbing garlic on the skinless?)
I make Chicken marsala with mushrooms, "pounded chicken breasts" sauteed, (Costco chicken) and it is usually very tender, but missing "something", I've had Chic/Marsala at Italian restaurant's and it has much more "flavor"

 

brining works best to keep the meat from drying out during roasting. I usually do it to the whole bird, and typically I do it with turkey as it is notoriously dry. I think I did try it once for roasting just the breasts and it worked out well. If you are sauteeing or using a sauce, brining seems (to me) to be a needless step.

 

Snowy
Ya' think? MSG, uggghhh So I guess I'll just make my "healthy, less tasteful" Chicken Marsala
--- merged: Aug 21, 2015 at 12:38 PM ---
Well, I am now in the process of making Chef Johns Italian meatballs.........
It's too hot outside here in FLL, probably 92....so I'll do some cooking, and freezing stuff....

 

Huh, I remember reading that MSG was BAD years ago
I never had a headache or any reaction to Chinese food anyway
So how much MSG do you use? Are there differences in brands?
--- merged: Aug 21, 2015 at 2:43 PM ---
Hmmm,went from brining chicken to MSG.....What's next?

 

It's actually not such a process. It takes longer to describe than to actually do. You can get the pieces rubbed and into the marinade 1-2-3, and then you just go off and do your thing while it marinates. Or you can put up the marinade before going to bed, let it marinate while you sleep.

If you're bound and determined to use skinless breasts, don't bake them. It's virtually impossible to get them to remain juicy that way.

Pound them like you would for chicken marsala. Chop up some parsley and keep it in reserve; then take the garlic from the marinade, chop it up fine, and start sauteeing it in a medium-hot pan. You can use EVOO, though I sometimes like to take some duck prosciutto (you could use regular prosciutto), render off the fat from that, and cook the garlic and the chicken in the duck fat. Once the garlic is just starting to caramelize, take it out of the pan, adding a little more fat or oil if necessary, and sautee the pounded chicken breasts just until they are seared on both sides. Drain off any excess fat, and then add back in the garlic, crumble in the prosciutto if you used it, and add in the parsley. Stir everything around to coat the chicken, and then pour in a splash of marinade to deglaze the pan. Once it's deglazed, add some more marinade (enough to cover the chicken between 1/4 and 1/3 of the way), lower the heat to simmer, cover, and cook for another 7-10 minutes, depending on how thinly you've pounded the chicken. If the sauce is still thin, you can add in a little paste of cornstarch and warm water to thicken it.

Again, takes longer to describe than to do it. And it's basic enough that you can gussy it up in a whole bunch of different ways if you feel like fucking around with it.

 

Levite
OK, I have "copied" your instructions , I will give that a try...is it safe to use the marinade from the chicken that way, doesn't seem to get to a high enough temperature to kill off bacteria...I worry about chicken "juice"...

 

I've never had a problem, although if you're concerned, you could put the marinade separately into a saucepot before you begin sautéing the garlic, and bring it to a boil, then turn it to simmer as soon as it has begun to boil. Let it simmer while you fix the chicken, and then use it with the chicken as before.

You can also, of course, discard the marinade altogether and simply squeeze in some more fresh lemons, add in the zest of one lemon, splash in some white wine, and dash in a bit more salt, pepper, and paprika. Then you just cook that down until the liquid reduces by about half. If you like, you can add in a splash of chicken stock and a tiny bit of cornstarch/water paste to make the sauce more of a gravy; but that's entirely a matter of taste.

 

I generally just use thai fish sauce for the samd effect, and a splash to any savoury and you'll notice the improvement but most people can't put their finger on why when they eat it.