I just have a microwave and a gas stovetop and I’m wondering which method is healthier to cook some chicken breasts and a bag of frozen veggies?
I’ve been stirfrying them together in olive oil but just recently thought maybe nuking them in a microwave would be better for me. As long as I keep the olive oil down the stir fries are ok, right?
[quote]sais wrote:
I just have a microwave and a gas stovetop and I’m wondering which method is healthier to cook some chicken breasts and a bag of frozen veggies?
I’ve been stirfrying them together in olive oil but just recently thought maybe nuking them in a microwave would be better for me. As long as I keep the olive oil down the stir fries are ok, right?[/quote]
I would only use the microwave to thaw the chicken breast. I’d choose the gas cooktop over the microwave everyday. Infinitely adjustable gas allows you to control the process, and takes less time than the microwave.
A small saucepan full of frozen vegetables, water and some salt takes minutes to bring to a boil. When it does, drain the water, add olive oil, season and eat. Oh yeah, olive oil is good for you. Use it.
For the chicken breast, use a cast iron pan. They are cheap and durable and cook meat better than a thin aluminum non-stick skillet. As far as cooking the chicken breast, pound it flat after it’s thawed, and season with salt and pepper.
Heat the cast iron pan over medium heat, pour in the oil, swirl it around then throw the flatten chicken breast in the pan. Let it cook (don’t fuck with it) for a minute or two. You’ll see the meat turn from pink to opaque white from the bottom up. Flip it over and cook the top side.
When it’s done, the chicken should have a bit of a crust on the outside, and hot and juicy on the inside.
Microwaves heat food, they don’t cook it. Learn how to cook. It’s a skill that pays dividends day after day, meal after meal.
[quote]Loose Tool wrote:
Learn how to cook. It’s a skill that pays dividends day after day, meal after meal.
[/quote]
Amen to that!
…and shameless plug for my thread on MWA forum:
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1498939
you forgot to add woman after woman. Knowing how to cook is generally considered sexy by most women (or so I’ve been told).
Also, a great way to do chicken is to cut it up into bite sized pieces, season it with S&P, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper, and throw it in a hot pan or skillet with a bit of oil in it (same as loose tool said).
Cook it through and then add it to a salad (I like caesar, just romaine lettuce, a little dressing, and fresh grated parmesan cheese). The spice from the pepper and garlic powder on the chicken goes really well with the coolness of lettuce and other cold salad veggies.
[quote]m0dd3r wrote:
you forgot to add woman after woman. Knowing how to cook is generally considered sexy by most women (or so I’ve been told).
[/quote]
Hell yeah!
This thread is getting more sexy by the minute.
I’ll add a photo too just to make it more sexy…
All threads should have more photos of naked chicken breasts!
From what i’ve picked up when you cook it and flip it as Loose Tool said but when it is done turn the heat off and leave the breast in the pan and let the remaining heat cook it.
Maybe its just my families way but it tastes nice.
Season the chicked breasts, then sear them over high heat in some canola oil until they’re browned nicely on both sides. Take them out of the pan and let them sit on a cutting board somewhere for 5 minutes (they don’t have to be cooked through yet, just browned).
With the heat still on high, throw the still-frozen veggies into the pan and stir fry them. Once the chicken has rested, cut it into smaller pieces (however you want) and throw them into the pan with the veggies. Add whatever else you want (soy sauce, whole eggs, etc.) and cook just until the chicken is white all the way through.
quick and easy recipe for chicken that is tasty:
cut chicken into bite sized pieces and brown as in above post, set it aside.
saute 1/4 chopped onion in some olive oil until transluscent.
add small can of stewed tomatoes, garlic pepper (or fresh diced garlic, MMM) and chili powder, to taste. you can also add some chopped bell pepper at this point if you like.
return chicken to pan and cook until its done all the way thru.
i like to serve this over brown rice, you can find that stuff to make in the microwave, but i haven’t tried it.
how’s that for sexy man-cookin?
sb
[quote]mopar_nocar wrote:
quick and easy recipe for chicken that is tasty:
cut chicken into bite sized pieces and brown as in above post, set it aside.
saute 1/4 chopped onion in some olive oil until transluscent.
add small can of stewed tomatoes, garlic pepper (or fresh diced garlic, MMM) and chili powder, to taste. you can also add some chopped bell pepper at this point if you like.
return chicken to pan and cook until its done all the way thru.
i like to serve this over brown rice, you can find that stuff to make in the microwave, but i haven’t tried it.
how’s that for sexy man-cookin?
sb[/quote]
that sounds good man. Kind of a quick chicken chilli. Actually, now that I think about it, it’s pretty similar to a chicken chilli recipe I’ve made before. Although I added beer, for volume and flavor, and corn, just cus I like corn in my chilli.
[quote]mopar_nocar wrote:
quick and easy recipe for chicken that is tasty:
cut chicken into bite sized pieces and brown as in above post, set it aside.
saute 1/4 chopped onion in some olive oil until transluscent.
add small can of stewed tomatoes, garlic pepper (or fresh diced garlic, MMM) and chili powder, to taste. you can also add some chopped bell pepper at this point if you like.
return chicken to pan and cook until its done all the way thru.
i like to serve this over brown rice, you can find that stuff to make in the microwave, but i haven’t tried it.
how’s that for sexy man-cookin?
sb[/quote]
I like the sound of this. It’ll make a nice change from my beef chilli that I always make.
I think I’ll take your recipe anmd throw in some kidney beans.
Cheers.
To the OP, microwaved chicken is foul (fowl hehe ;). don’t do it to yourself.
As was already mentioned Olive Oil is good for you.
Make some real stir fry… cut up your chicken into bite size pieces and julienne some peppers,onions and carrots.
Saute your chicken in a little sesame oil, with the peppers,onions and carrots. Then add some snap peas, bamboo chutes and baby corn, with a little soy & teryaki sauce. Add pepper to taste, but no salt! The soy and teryaki have plenty. Serve over brown rice. Note, sesame oil is key to the flavor, but not sure how healthy…
ooh, I just thought of another good one I do pretty frequently. Chop the chicken to bite sized pieces, season with S&P and hot pepper (cayenne or the flakes work well), sear it in a hot pan (I use a mix of veggie oil and butter for this one. Olive oil is pretty fragile and breaks down/smokes at lower temps). Once the chicken is seared all over (but not yet cooked through), add the frozen veggies. Once the veggies have thawed, add some frank’s red hot (you could use other hot sauces, but I was going for a traditional buffalo style so it’s gotta be franks for me). Let it simmer in the hot sauce for a few minutes then serve over rice or couscous.
[quote]animalmj wrote:
Make some real stir fry.
Saute your chicken in a little sesame oil[/quote]
Not to get technical, but if you’re going to call it “real stir fry” then you don’t “saute” it. Sauteing involves a shallow flat pan, which is kind of the antithesis of the deep, round wok you need for “real” stir fry.
And actually, sesame oil has a very low smoke point, less than 350 F. Chinese chefs actually use peanut oil because it can be heated to much higher temperatures. Sesame oil is added after cooking for flavor. Now you can saute with sesame oil since it has a similar smoke point to butter (300 F), and you won’t get smoke, but you’re not even in the neighbroohood of stir frying.
Of course this is probably a moot point seeing as the average American home kitchen cannot even get a wok up to proper temperature (e.g. >400 F), so you’re probably ok.
Also, to the OP, I hope you are “stir frying” with regular olive oil as opposed to extra virgin. The extra virgin smokes at 320 F or so, making for bad, burnt fats, and lousy tasting food.
Breasts:
Olive oil
Chili Powder
Garlic Salt
Cook…Yummy.
[quote]Chef Lisa Marie wrote:
m0dd3r wrote:
you forgot to add woman after woman. Knowing how to cook is generally considered sexy by most women (or so I’ve been told).
Hell yeah!
This thread is getting more sexy by the minute.
I’ll add a photo too just to make it more sexy…
All threads should have more photos of naked chicken breasts![/quote]
Thanks for the gratuitous breast shot Cheffie. But why THREE? That’s just disturbing.
[quote]Kruiser wrote:
Chef Lisa Marie wrote:
m0dd3r wrote:
you forgot to add woman after woman. Knowing how to cook is generally considered sexy by most women (or so I’ve been told).
Hell yeah!
This thread is getting more sexy by the minute.
I’ll add a photo too just to make it more sexy…
All threads should have more photos of naked chicken breasts!
Thanks for the gratuitous breast shot Cheffie. But why THREE? That’s just disturbing.
[/quote]
Three would be brestisists.
[quote]Kruiser wrote:
Thanks for the gratuitous breast shot Cheffie. But why THREE? That’s just disturbing.
[/quote]
OMG…so sorry about that disturbing photo…
I heard a photo of Jamie makes EVERYTHING all better so I leave this and I guess I should leave a recipe too…sigh…
[center]Chicken and Apple Salad[/center]
Ingredients:
10-12 oz cooked chicken breast
2 granny smith apples
1 small red onion
1 jalapeno
1 lime zest and juice
3 Tbsp Xtra Virgin olive oil
some fresh lightly chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper
Method:
Cut chicken into strips, apple slices, red onion slices, pepper slices. Put all this into a large bowl.
Zest and juice the lime and add to bowl with chicken, apples, and onions.
Add olive oil and toss well.
Add chopped jalapeno and lightly chopped cilantro, salt and pepper. Mix well!
Let this sit for about an hour for the flavors to mix. Then enjoy.
This is a great chicken salad for the simmer. Nice fresh crisp flavors with the lime and the apple. The cilantro and jalapeno also add some interest and zip.
[quote]rg73 wrote:
animalmj wrote:
Make some real stir fry.
Saute your chicken in a little sesame oil
Not to get technical, but if you’re going to call it “real stir fry” then you don’t “saute” it. Sauteing involves a shallow flat pan, which is kind of the antithesis of the deep, round wok you need for “real” stir fry.
And actually, sesame oil has a very low smoke point, less than 350 F. Chinese chefs actually use peanut oil because it can be heated to much higher temperatures. Sesame oil is added after cooking for flavor. Now you can saute with sesame oil since it has a similar smoke point to butter (300 F), and you won’t get smoke, but you’re not even in the neighbroohood of stir frying.
Of course this is probably a moot point seeing as the average American home kitchen cannot even get a wok up to proper temperature (e.g. >400 F), so you’re probably ok.
Also, to the OP, I hope you are “stir frying” with regular olive oil as opposed to extra virgin. The extra virgin smokes at 320 F or so, making for bad, burnt fats, and lousy tasting food.[/quote]
Thank you for the viscosity lesson…
[quote]animalmj wrote:
Thank you for the viscosity lesson…
[/quote]
Viscosity ?? I’m not sure I understand that comment maybe you can explain what you are trying to say?
Smoking points/quality of oils is something I am constantly telling my cooking class clients about. Too many people think they should use Extra Virgin Olive Oil for everything. I try to explain to them that cooking with EVOO and other high quality/flavor low smoking point oils like sesame oil, causes your food to taste bitter and burnt.
It’s best when you use a great quality/flavor Extra Virgin Oil as an addition AFTER your food is cooked. To cook with olive oil try Pure or pomace oil. For deep frying or cooking at high temps, the olive oil grade “olive oil,” is excellent because it has a higher smoke point (410? F) than virgin or extra virgin oils.
Save your EVOO for using ON TOP of your already cooked veggies, it’s so much more enjoyable to taste the amazing fruity flavors each different EVOO from various places have to offer. Try doing a tasting of different olive oils and you will really understand the varieties of flavors available.
Chef Lisa Marie, thanks for the tips on the oil.
