Pan-Seared Chicken Breasts

By Julie Adams

From Cook's Illustrated. Very good. Also served with Lemon Pan Sauce Good with Quinoa Tabbouleh.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6-8 oz each) trimmed of excess fat
• 2 teaspoons of kosher salt or 1 teaspoon to table salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 recipe pan sauce, optional.

Preparation

Step 1

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Using a fork, poke thickest half of each breast 5 to 6 times; evenly sprinkle each breast with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/4 teaspoon table salt). Place chicken, skinned side down, in 13 by 9-inch baking dish and cover tightly with foil. Bake until thickest part of breast registers 145 to 150 degrees on instant read thermometer, 30 to 40 minutes.

Remove chicken from oven and transfer, skinned side up, to paper towel-lined plate and pat dry with paper towels. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. While pan is heating, whisk butter, flour, cornstarch, and pepper together in small bowl. Lightly brush top side of chicken with half of butter mixture. Place chicken in skillet, coated sided down, and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. While chicken browns, brush with remaining butter mixture. Using tongs, flip chicken, reduce heat to medium, and cook until second side is browned and thickest part of breast registers 160 to 165 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer chicken to large plate and let rest while preparing pan sauce or let chicken rest 5 minutes.

Pan sauce:
I just added 1 teaspoon of flour and stirred about a minute. Add about a cup of chicken broth and juice from 1/2 lemon. Mine did not need salt. Add pepper. You could start by sautéing a medium shallot, minced. At the end, you could whisk in some minced fresh chives or parsley and a tablespoon of butter.