Survival Cooking 101

Everyone needs to be able to toss a couple o' basics together in a flash. Tonight, dear readers, I am going to give you the secret of the super tender, juicy, and FAST sauteed chicken breast.

Purchase boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Trim off the bits you don't want to eat (cartilage, fat, tendons). Season to your tastes. You can go as simple as just salt and pepper or you can use a seasoning blend from mild to wild. I like Market Spice from Seattle's Market Spice shop or cajun seasoning. Then, dredge the breasts in plain flour. I put 1/2 cup of flour in a paper lunch bag and put the breasts in individually and give it a good shake. Shake off the excess flour.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of butter with equal amount of olive oil over med./high heat. (I like my big ol' cast iron skillet for this.) When the butter is all bubbly, put the breasts in (single layer - what would have been skin side down). DO NOT TOUCH for 4 minutes (if it looks like the heat is getting too high, you can tick it down a bit. After 4 minutes, turn the breasts over. Cook another 3-4 minutes. (I usually tick the heat down during cooking until it's on medium by the time I'm done.)

Remove the breasts from the pan to a clean plate, cover loosely with foil. You can add chopped shallot or garlic to the pan -- and a spoon full of flour to the pan -- cook fast -- but don't let it burn. Then, deglaze with a cup or more of wine/chicken broth. Stir, the sauce will thicken. You might want to add some herbal flavoring -- poultry seasoning, fresh chopped parsley or what have you. Or you can skip the gravy bit entirely.

You can serve the chicken breasts along side pretty much anything. You can slice them up and put them over some salad from a bag and toss some croutons on top and the dressing of your choice.

Once you master this technique -- you will always be able to whip up something YUMMY and fast. You can use this basic technique as the basis for company food too.

You do want to let the breasts rest for a few minutes so that the juices stay in the meat when you cut into them. The breasts are good cold -- or cooled off and shredded for chicken salad.

Next time, I'll teach you to make whipped cream. The real stuff. It's a kitchen miracle.