Truth be told, it wasn't too bad! This pair of recipes is super simple, so I didn't feel the least bit stressed (from cooking, anyway; work's been something of a different story lately, but that's nothing you want to read about). And the best part? This week, we have our first Hannah Original Recipe! Yup, the Greek Pita Pizzas are my brainchild. I decided to whip one up one afternoon for lunch with some leftover ingredients in the fridge (I love any and all pitas), and a unique-but-delicious meal was born.
The oregano chicken seemed like a logical pairing with the pitas because oregano is to Greek food what basil is to Italian food. I wanted a quick and easy way to cook the chicken, and I stumbled upon a great tip from a blog called theKitchn (www.thekitchn.com). Their recipe uses chicken breasts, but Mom picked up tenderloins for me because they are smaller and cook faster, even when frozen (which was good because Miss Smartie over here forgot to take the chicken out to thaw when she left in the morning).
Here is the recipe for the chicken almost verbatim from the website (along with the web address: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-moist-tender-chicken-breasts-every-time-36891):
Ingredients
"1 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon freshly chopped herbs (optional)
Olive oil
1/2 tablespoon butter
"1. Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness with the handle or flat of a knife [the tenderloins were already about the same size and thickness, so I didn't need this step].
2. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts.
3. Mix about a half teaspoon of salt in with the flour along with a little pepper. Chop the herbs finely, if using, and mix in as well.
4. Quickly dredge the chicken breasts in the flour, so that they are just lightly [and evenly] dusted with flour.
5. Heat the sauté pan over medium-high heat. When it is quite hot, add the olive oil and butter. Let them melt, and swirl the pan.
6. Turn the heat to medium. Add the chicken breasts. Cook for just about 1 minute to help them get a little golden on one side (you are not actually searing or browning them). Then flip each chicken breast over.
7. Turn the heat to low. Put the lid on the pan. Set a timer for 10 minutes, and walk away. Do not lift the lid; do not peek. [I totally peeked.]
8. After 10 minutes have elapsed, turn off the heat. Reset the timer for 10 minutes and leave the chicken breasts in the pan. Again, do not lift the lid; do not peek. [I didn't peek this time, I promise.]
9. After the 10 minutes are up, take the lid off, and tada [sic]! Soft, tender, juicy chicken breasts that aren't dried out in the least. Doublecheck [sic] them to make sure there is no pink in the middle. Slice and eat."
Now, I made some changes to this recipe, so I'll just go into those now. I really don't like using butter if I can avoid it because it's pretty bad for you. So I just used the olive oil (a light cooking oil). And I had to double the recipe because there were about eight tenderloins. However, if you use tenderloins, you only need half as much per tenderloin as you do per breast because the tenderloins are smaller. Long story short, I should have followed this recipe and not doubled it. Just some advice. Anyway, I also didn't do step 2. I just mixed the salt and pepper with dried oregano into the flour (plus some onion salt). It worked great for me. This is one great thing about the recipe is that you can make any kind of chicken just by following these steps. Just season the flour mixture as you wish, and you will have great results. Seriously. Kudos to whoever came up with this method because it is fantastic. I only had to cook the chicken for an extra minute in the microwave after the full 20 minutes were up, and that was just an insurance policy. If I ever make orange chicken again (ha ha), I would use this method, then slice the chicken into small strips before coating them in the sauce. I have a feeling that the whole thing would go much, much more smoothly.
Anyway, the chicken turned out just as promised: succulent and perfect. I loved the floury coating on the outside, which had a nice brown-ness to it that gave the chicken a lovely umami touch (umami is an ineffable savory flavor that comes from meaty dishes and foods such as mushrooms). Overall, I liked the recipe because it was very straightforward and got great results. Moreover, I got some experience cooking meat. I'm really glad for such experience because I used to be intimidated by the prospect of cooking meat. I thought it would be hard, and I was worried that I would under-cook (or overcook) the meat in my naivete. However, recipes like this show me that I--an others like me--can be successful at cooking delicious meat when veggies and grains alone just won't do.
And now, the Greek Pita Pizzas. . .
Ingredients (for one person):
1 pita
2 tbsp hummus
2 tbsp
fresh mozzarella cheese
Sliced
kalamata olives (5 or so)
Sundried
tomatoes (About 2 tbsp)
Salt and
pepper, to taste
1. Preheat
the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Spread the
hummus on the pita. Arrange the mozzarella cheese, olives, and tomatoes evenly on the pita.
3. Bake for
about 10 minutes. Slice and serve.
Now, you might think it's weird that I'm using fresh mozzarella instead of feta, the classic Greek cheese. I will admit that I originally used mozzarella because that's all we had. But now that I think on it, mozzarella is a smart choice, and here's why: it melts well, and it's smooth and creamy. The other ingredients have a sour or tangy bite to them, and the mozzarella helps balance that out a bit. Ditto for the chicken. Mom pronounced the combination "different," which sounds like a Minnesota euphemism for "you're out of your mind." But she did say she liked it, and she does have a knack for being brutally honest and telling you exactly what she thinks (just ask her!). Joking aside (because I do appreciate the feedback, Mom), she did have some good ideas for next time. For starters, you could add spinach to the pitas. And if you like a lot of tang, you could go for the iconic feta. We ate our dinner with a nice green salad, so I think maybe the feta would be best on the salad with some kalamata olives (assuming you left them off the pita. . .otherwise, there'd be too many olives. . .ha ha, again. . .). But, to each his or her own, so you can really do whatever you like. Mom also thought fresh tomatoes would be good on the pitas, but I worry that the fresh tomatoes would leak juice onto the pita, making it a tad soggy.
All in all, this was another good choice for a meal after a hectic day because it comes together fast and has very few steps, minimizing the risk of messing something up. This is something I would make again if I were eating alone or if I was really busy and didn't have the time or energy to make anything else. I hope you find that this recipe is something you can rely on when nothing else seems good.
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| The food says, "Thanks for reading! Also, we're delicious, and you should totally try making us." Photo enhanced with Instagram filtering. |
