The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

(Nandana) #1

you’ve got the breast split, pounding is fun and easy. The
key is not to pound too hard. Hard pounding can make
holes in your meat and it gives you less control over the
final thickness. Easy does it, OK?
A dedicated meat pounder is a good investment if you
make tons of chicken cutlets or, say, chicken-fried steak.
But if you’re only an occasional cutlet eater, the bottom
of a heavy skillet will do just fine.
Start by placing a boneless, skinless chicken breast,
with the tenderloin removed, on your cutting board,
parallel and close to the edge of the counter. Hold the
chicken with the palm of one hand and, with the other, use
a sharp knife to make a horizontal slice all the way
through the chicken. Do not saw back and forth—if you
need to take second stroke to get all the way through,
open up the cut chicken, reset the knife, close the chicken
around it, hold it in place, and take another stroke.
Once you’ve split the chicken, working with one piece
at a time, place the chicken between two sheets of plastic
wrap or inside a gallon-sized zipper-lock plastic bag with
its sides cut open. Gently pound the chicken with a meat
pounder or a skillet until it’s an even ¼ inch thick. Repeat
with the remaining cutlet(s).


SAUCES FOR PAN-ROASTED


CHICKEN PARTS OR CHICKEN


CUTLETS

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