This chicken recipe is truly amazing: it is easy, it is delicious, it cooks in practically no time, and takes care of those last few wrinkly cherry tomatoes you have rolling around on the kitchen windowsill. You will be pleased with yourself (most importantly) and you will have a new dish to add to your repertoire. Pay attention, class: 3-Minute Chicken.
I found this recipe on Food52 where they specialize in genius ideas. Food52 also encourages home cooks’ creativity and improvisation. The original recipe called for mint and a ball of fresh burrata cheese. I improvised, and substituted basil and fresh mozarella.
I know for a fact that we don’t ever have fresh mint, unless it is the week just after the Kentucky Derby, and I haven’t yet killed the mint plant I rooted from cuttings left from our Derby mint julep celebration. Usually by mid-June all I have is a sad, crispy sprig languishing in a neglected pot. And here it is, August. Right now we do have a healthy basil farm – this has been a great year for both basil and hydrangeas – and for once we have an abundance of splendidly aromatic basil, and vases full of clouds of hydrangeas. Maybe we finally have had enough rain.
Burrata, though it is creamy and delicious, is hard to find, and tends to be expensive. It is at the top of our permanent shopping list for our infrequent field trips to Trader Joe’s. This is our standard list: Trader Joe’s Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Trader Joe’s Movie Theatre Popcorn, Trader Joe’s Reserve Meritage Paso Robles 2021 Red Wine (deelish, and only $10!), burratta, and depending on what is blooming in the back yard, an armful of fresh flowers.
These days even our humble Food Lion carries fresh mozzarella, so I think I can make this cheese substitution with impunity. I will try this recipe again with the proper ingredients after our next trip to TJ’s, when I can stock up on fresh mint, too.
Mr. Sanders loves to pour through cook books and find complicated, multi-step recipes for dinner. I guess he welcomes a challenge. Except for ritual holiday fare, I tend to opt for simple, no-recipe dinners. I like plain, roasted chicken and rice, and he is more of a Coq au Vin cook. I like Martha’s One-Pan Pasta and he opts for Marcella Hazan’s butter pasta sauce
One of my favorite meals in our rotation is a variation on chicken schnitzel – I take a boneless chicken breast and halve it carefully with the super sharp boning knife, carefully avoiding my fingers. Then I pound it mercilessly with the rolling pin, while it is sandwiched between heavy duty gallon-size Baggies, so I don’t spray chicken bits and/or salmonella all over the kitchen. After pounding the chicken I dip it in flour, egg and then plain panko bread crumbs. I fry it crisp and crunchy in a pan with oil and butter. That takes about 10 minutes, and gets 3 breading pans, 2 plates, and 1 frying pan dirty. Not to mention the stove top and the backsplash…
On the other hand, the 3-minute chicken first calls for broiling the tomatoes until they char and blister. But that is an easy peasy clean up – you can line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil to keep everything clean and shiny. 3-minute chicken requires no breading – so already you are saving time on that messy clean up. Once the chicken is pounded you can toss it into the oil. Quick – turn the chicken in about a minute, or a minute and a half. In a bowl, combine the blistered tomatoes, torn chunks of mozzarella cheese and the basil leaves. I added some garlic, because because because olive oil and basil need garlic. Though it is your choice. Now get your dinner plates out.
Plate the chicken, cover it with the tomato, basil and mozzarella mixture. Add rice to the side. Or add some buttered pasta. Mr. Sanders would probably have dreamed up a multi-pronged approach, and prepared fettuccine Alfredo with pancetta and peas with aged (though freshly grated) parmigiano reggiano and asparagus as his side dish. But I have walked 10,000 steps with Luke the wonder dog already today, and don’t need to prove myself. Although I will add a green salad, maybe some crusty bread, candles, and a chilled glass of cheap Chardonnay. After dinner, load your plates in the dishwasher, scrub the frying pan, and throw away the aluminum foil. You have plenty of time for Industry, and a second glass of wine. Thanks, @Food52! You saved the day!
“Someone once asked Dad: “But what do you want to save time for? What are you going to do with it?” “For work, if you love that best,” said Dad. “For education, for beauty, for art, for pleasure.” He looked over the top of his pince-nez. “For mumblety-peg, if that’s where your heart lies.”
― Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.