Novice Cook

You can cook it in water, but you are going to get a much better flavor if you roast it in the oven. Salt and pepper the chicken (I'd use legs and thighs, probably, they are much less expensive than the breasts, but it depends on if you want white or dark meat) and roast them in the oven at 350 until they are done (internal temp of 160). Let them cool, and then remove the skins and cut up the meat for the recipe. I'd save the bones in the freezer until I had a gallon bag full and then make stock, but that may be more than you want to do, lol.

If you buy the split chicken breast - they have skin and are still on the bone, they are cheeper than boneless skinless and in my opinion cook up more flavorful. VERY SIMPLE - oven 375. Take a cookie sheet pan and cover it with foil. Lightly spray or coat with olive oil. Put chicken breast on pan. Lightly spray them with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper or any other spice or herb you like - if using in other dishes you should probably just stick with salt and pepper. Cook at 375 degrees for 1hr 15min. This is also a good way to cook other cuts of chicken - legs, thighs or leg quaters would only take 1hr. Don't boil any meat unless you are making stock from the water - it waste alot of flavor.

It depends on the part of the chicken and how thick/thin it is. We boil chicken breats straight from the freezer to the pan. Thinner ones typically take no more than 20 minutes and the thicker ones can take 30 min or so, flipping periodically. You can add a dash of Ms. Dash for seasoning if you want. Usually once cooked I'll cut it up into bite size pieces and saute them in the same pan with a little olive oil, Ms. Dash, italian seasoning, and a small dash of cayanne pepper and then toss over a salad, it's yummy. I also sean the whole breast the same way to go with rice, veges, etc.

Here's an easy way of doing it:
Buy boneless and skinless chicken breasts, they're more expensive then the breasts with the skin and bones in it, but it's easiest to cook the chicken. You can save $ by buying family packs.

Turn on oven to 275 degrees

-Take a medium to large casserole dish (I use corning-ware with a lid) and put some extra virgin olive oil in the bottom; you want an oil that has a greenish tint, it has the most flavor
-Sprinkle Kosher Salt and Freshly ground black pepper on the chicken then place the chicken seasoned side down into the oil covered dish; repeat with the side facing up
-Finely dice up some garlic (I use about 4-5 cloves because I LOVE Garlic) and sprinkle the garlic over the chicken
-Add a couple sprigs of Rosemary and Thyme (You can buy small packages in the produce area) as well as a bay leaf for flavor
-Sprinkle a liberal amount of Simply Organic All purpose seasoning (About 1.5 Tbsp)
-Pour Chicken Broth over everything until it is about 1/3-1/4 of the way up the casserole dish (this keeps the chicken from drying out)
-If you'd like, you can cut an onion into 4ths and a few carrots into thirds and place them around the chicken breasts.
-Cover with the lid and place in the oven
-It should take about an hour or hour and a half to cook

Good luck!

Put the chicken in water, I put some salt (amount depends on how much you're cooking), some garlic, sometimes I add about a 1/4 of an onion, just to give it good flavor. The cooking time depends on how much chicken you are cooking, but give it about 45 mins, then check it. If it looks pink, keep cooking. I poke it and see if the juice that comes out is clear or pink. Once it's clear, then I'm done!

Any way you cook chicken (boil, fry, braise, saute, bake, broil, roast, grill, zap, whatever) they will come out tasting differently, with different textures, and cooking for different times... but one thing holds true:

It's done when the internal temp is 180 degrees F.

Spend the $5, & go buy a meat thermometer. :) :) :) It'll serve you in great stead.

Chicken 180
Pork 140
Beef Rare : 120
Beef Med : 140
Beef Well : 160

and check out www.foodnetwork.com Tons of recipes and how to videos. Everything from how to hold a knife, to advanced schtuff.

Whenever I want to make something different than my usual I always go to allrecipies.com. they have great recipies and you can put in chicken in the "search box" and many choices will come up. good luck!
L.

You can also do a 2 chicken breast in a skillet with 1 Tbls olive oil and 1 Tbls butter. salt and pepper, also add a clove of garlic and some sliced onions. Right before you put the cover on the skillet you can add 1/4 cup water, chicken broth or white wine. The chicken should be covered and cooked on medium heat for 10 min on each side..

Grilling chicken is one of our favorites.. Heat the grill to 350. Salt and Pepper the bone in breast or cut a whole chicken into 4 pieces.. Place the chicken on the top grill. Close the lid and do not open for 20 minutes.. It will be perfect.

I prefer to roast chicken prior to using it in recipes. You basically baste the chicken with olive oil or melted butter, then add seasonings (I use various combinations of cumin, rosemary, garlic powder, chili powder, papricka (for color), pepper, salt). I place it in a roasting pan in the oven for approximately an hour at 350 degrees (I check the temperature using a meat thermometer). Once it's done, you can cut it into pieces and use it in various recipes.

I toss boneless skinless chicken pieces in a pot with enough water to cover, and simmer until it pulls apart easily and is no longer pink in the middle (usually not more than 20-30 minutes depending on size of pieces). Try not to overcook it, or it will lose too much flavor - I cut what I buy in half, and start checking at about 20 minutes.

Then I cut it up and use it in dishes that the chicken flavor will largely be overpowered by the other ingredients anyway - casseroles, soups, chicken salad (the kind with mayo that you would spread on crackers or bread). I do not do it this way if I am serving the chicken alone, or in strips on a green salad, etc - for that, we mostly use the grill, and often just marinate in bottled or homemade Italian dressing.

This also does NOT make a stongly flavored stock, but if you add some onion and garlic and whatever other spice you like (either with the chicken or afterwards - with the chicken will give it a bit more flavor also) then it's perfect as a start for soup (the veggies you put in that will add to the flavor, or you can add some purchased broth if you prefer, but if you use this, you won't have to buy as much) OR for cooking rice or noodles for a side dish - stuff that you would normally just use water for - this give it a little bit of chicken flavor. I freeze it and mostly use it to make side dishes for a chicken entree, and my daughter loves to cook plain wavy Chinese noodles in it for lunch ( this = homemade ramen without the msg in the purchased flavor packs! We buy them at Whole Foods but your local market may have them too) - she just seasons it the way she likes, usually onion/garlic powder/salt and maybe a little poultry seasoning.

Good luck and holler if you have any more questions. I do a lot of very "basic" cooking but my family is always happily well-fed. :-)