Melt in your Mouth Chicken

If I only had a dollar for all the different ways I've prepared chicken....


I've grilled, baked, marinated, fried, stir-fried, made chicken strips, and put it in sooooo many casseroles. But there is one technique that I've been trying over and over again because I just can't believe how it makes my chicken....and I think it's proved worthy....

Soaking in buttermilk. That's it. So simple, yet amazing. Whether you put your thawed or frozen wings, boneless chicken breasts in a ziploc bag with enough buttermilk (regular or fat-free) and any of your favorite seasonings. You will be truly amazed how tender it makes it. I've marinated tons of chicken thinking it's the combo of oils, vinegar and seasonings that tenderize it. It may have a nice flavor but often they could easily get dried out. But no matter if I cooked my chicken a little too long after it was in buttermilk....it was always moist and tender. Even something like chicken wings just fell off the bone (even the day after when it was reheated). It's got to be something with the active cultures in buttermilk that breaks down the chicken I am convinced!

Tonight I made smothered chicken....here's what I did:

Mushroom and Swiss Smothered Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts
2 cups of buttermilk (regular or fat-free)
Seasonings of your choice (I used a herb packet from World Market called 'Chimichurri')
2 cups crushed cornflakes
salt to taste
1 pint sliced mushrooms
4 sliced reduced fat swiss cheese
2 Tablespoons smart balance
3-4 Tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth

Place your chicken in a ziploc bag with seasonings and buttermilk the night before or the morning before you leave for work.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take chicken out of fridge. Crush cornflakes with rolling pin or grind in food chopper. Place crushed cornflakes into shallow dish. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick foil. Spray with non cooking spray. Take chicken out of bag and salt to taste. Keeping the chicken pretty wet from buttermilk, dredge into cornflakes, pat them firmly to pack cornflakes onto chicken. Place onto prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts. Bake in oven 20 minutes or until meat is no longer pink.


While chicken is cooking, saute mushrooms in saute pan. I used just a little olive oil and some salt to draw out the mushrooms moisture. When mushrooms are cooked, push mushrooms to one side of pan. Melt smart balance (you can use whatever oil of your choice), add flour and mix until you smell the flour's nutty fragrance. Put mushrooms into the roux and mix. Slowly add your chicken broth, keep stirring until you get the right thickness to your gravy.



When chicken is done cooking, turn off heat from oven. Take out chicken and cover with 2 slices of cheese and put back in oven to melt cheese. Remove chicken from cookie sheet and cover with mushroom gravy.








A nice green salad or yesterday's post of lemon asparagus would go great with this. BTW, the two leftover breasts we had the next night were reheated in the oven and were STILL moist.


I tell ya...I am sold on buttermilk marinade for all my chicken from now on!