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Once, I tried to pound chicken without a meat mallet thingey. I put the chicken between two pieces of platic wrap and went at it with a handle of Bacardi. The chicken went squirting/flying across the kitchen. I cooked it anyway.
I read those AskMe cooking and eating threads increasingly rarely these days. Nobody who cooks or eats like a human being posts there anymore, and I lose my appetite for hours pretty frequently when I do click on one of those things. That whole AskMe thread was particularly sad, though. Especially the dude that chimed in with that God-awful nickel plated cast iron grill pan suggestion. I thought every civilized person on the planet was taught in elementary school that the proper care of a cast iron skillet was regular use in the bi-weekly prepartion of Chicken Fried Steak and Cream Gravy.
But pounding flavorless, boneless, skinless chicken breasts flat simply so they'll cook fast? That's some kind of disgusting new low.
I thought every civilized person on the planet was taught in elementary school...
Unfortunately, not all of us were blessed with regular cooking experience as kids. We're trying to catch up now, but comparing myself to some of my peers it's very clear what a huge difference it makes to have spent years absorbing cooking techniques and know-how by watching and helping out in the family kitchen as a child.
I never even started cooking at all until I was in my 30s... My mom is a great cook, but I just didn't really pay that much attention - I was more likely to be with her in the kitchen, but reading a book instead of learning the craft. Then, my first husband was the cook in our family, so it wasn't 'til we split that I gave it a shot. And then I went crazy, and of course I did it my way: with books! Before we left the U.S. I had one entire book case of nothing but cookbooks, books about food, and food and wine magazines - and I actually turned out to be pretty good at rattling those pots and pans.
However, paulsc, I do use skinless breast of chicken for a cooking a lot. This has something to do with the 20 pounds I recently lost, but I use it in a lot of Asian influenced dishes, and rely on it regularly.
Today, I'm going to whip up occhiblu's broccoli arrabiata for lunch, and tonight I'm going to try out an idea I had for a winter root vegetable stew. If it turns out smoochygood, I'll post the recipe.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
