Poached Chicken

This recipe is the companion to my Almond Tarragon Chicken Salad post.  Poaching is a quick and easy way to cook poultry for any kind of salad, so it's a good culinary skill to master.

A couple of notes:

• You need a skillet with a cover for this recipe.  Preferably a nonstick, but I did it in a normal skillet just fine.
• Buy chicken breasts that are the same size for equal cooking time.  
• An instant-read kitchen thermometer is a pretty useful gadget for cooking meat.  You can buy a cheap one anywhere – I got mine at Target.

Poached Chicken

Makes 4 cups
Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3-4), trimmed
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons canola oil
2/3 cup water

Directions:

1. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking.  Add the chicken and cook until browned on one side, about 3 minutes.

2.  Flip the chicken, add the water, and cover.  Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook until the thickest part of the breast reads 160-165º on an instant-read thermometer, 6-8 minutes longer.

3.  Transfer the chicken to a carving board and allow to cool.  Using your fingers or forks, shred the chicken.

This recipe is from The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.