Best-Ever Chicken

Things were kind of crazy around here this week so I picked an easy recipe from another one of my bargain cookbooks,Best-Ever Chicken by Linda Fraser. But by the time N got home from golf class (he has realized that it’s kind of a career requirement for a lawyer to know how to swing a club) and I started on dinner it was nine o’clock. N graciously agreed to chop all the vegetables for the salsa (which was the tastiest part of the meal) and so I repaid his kindness but serving him still-raw-in-the-middle chicken. Le sigh.

Dun-dun, DUN–beneath the oregano crust lurks the rawness!

Chicken Breasts with Tomato-Corn Salsa from Best Ever Chicken by Linda Fraser

Chicken Ingredients

• 4 chicken breast halves, about 6 oz each, boned and skinned
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
• salt

Salsa Ingredients

• 1 fresh hot green chili pepper
• 1 lb. tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 1/4 cups corn, freshly cooked or thawed (I roasted some fresh corn in the oven and it was delicious!)
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. With a mallet, pound the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap until thin.
2. In a shallow dish, combine the lemon juice, oil, cumin, oregano and pepper
3. Add the chicken and turn to coast. Cover and let stand for at least 2 hours, or chill overnight
4. To make the salsa, char the chili skin over a gas flame (or under the broiler.) Let cool for 5 minutes. Wearing rubber gloves, carefully rub off the charred skin. For a less hot flavor, discard the seeds.
5. Chop the chili very finely and place in a bowl. Add the rest of the salsa ingredients and mix well.
6. Remove the chicken from the marinade. Season lightly.
7. Heat a ridged broiler pan. Add the chicken breasts and cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook the meat on the other side for 3-4 minutes more. Serve the chicken with the salsa.

The Verdict
2 1/2 (out of 5) stars. I think this book executes it’s goal pretty well (providing a wide range of dishes based on chicken) but for some reason I wasn’t really feeling it. (Maybe I’m just embarrassed that I didn’t cook the chicken correctly?) Each recipe comes with photos and the directions are written very clearly. I just don’t think it will be a book I’ll go back to again and again.

So dear readers, I have a question for you. One of the reasons I wanted to do this cookbook series was to thin out my cookbook collection. I’ve amassed too many over the years and need to pare it down. I was thinking that I’d give away books that aren’t really for me by letting people leave a comment and then picking a winner at random and mailing said book to them. But is it weird to give a book a lukewarm review and then offer it as a giveaway? I don’t want to offend anyone but I like it when books go to a good home.

What do you think?