Friday, June 23, 2006

Simple Paprika Roasted Chicken Breast

Tonight's dinner was a simple and quick dish that we make fairly frequently and we call it Paprika Chicken. The chicken, served with a simple fresh veggie, make for an easy night in the kitchen with easy cleanup as well. This recipe doesnt' really have any fixed amounts for the ingredients -you can make 1 breast or 8 using just your judgement as to how much seasoning to use. The only thing to measure (sort of) will be the chicken broth.
It is important to use the right size pan, though. I use an 8x8 pan for 1 or 2 breasts with 1/3 to 3/4 cup of broth, 9x13 for 3 to 6 with 1 to 2 cups of broth. Use a bigger pan and more broth as the number of breasts increases.

Simple Paprika Roasted Chicken Breast
Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless, trimmed of fat
Garlic powder
Salt
White pepper
Paprika
Chicken broth

Directions:
Turn the oven up to 425º F.
Line an appropriate sized pan with aluminum foil.
Spray the pan generoulsy with vegetable or Olive oil spray.
On a seperate plate, turn the trimmed chicken over (skin side down) to season the bottom.
Sprinkle the bottom of each chicken breast with some garlic powder, a bit of salt (be careful about the amount of salt if the borth is salted also), some white pepper (not too much!), and a generous amout of paprika.
Place the chicken in the pan seasoned side down (skin side up) and repeat the seasonings, omiting the salt if desired.
Bring the chicken broth to a boil in the microwave.
Pour the broth slowly into the pan (pour it gently over the chicken).
Place the pan with the chicken in the preheated oven.
cook in the oven for 15 minutes or so. Baste the chicken every 5 minutes. The chicken is done when the internal temperature of the reaches 165º F.
At this point, even though the chicken is done, but I like to place it under the broiler for a minute or so, basting a couple of more times.
Transfer the checken to a serving plate along with a fresh simply cooked veggie, like steamed broccoli or green beans. Top the chicken with some of the pan juices.

The temperature link above and this one provide information on the proper and SAFE temperatures that meats should be cooked when using an essential kitchen tool, the instant read internal thermometer. If you don't have one, they're cheap! Get one!

Enjoy,
Lorence

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