hands down, the hardest thing to learn in the kitchen, was how to cook a chicken breast perfectly. recipes involving chicken breasts would always say something vague, leaving me with way to much room for error. so here is a breakdown of how to get that perfectly cooked, well seasoned chicken breast every time.

to execute your perfect cookery, start with a few simple ingredients. a 4-6 oz chicken breast (no thicker than .75 inch thick and as even as possible). 1 tbs olive or vegetable oil. .25 tsp kosher salt. couple pinches of fresh ground pepper. large nonstick or cast iron pan. aluminum foil. paper towel. start by trimming any extra membranes or unwanted skin from the chicken breast. using a paper towel, pat your chicken dry. this is very important to ensure that you get a nice browned, flavorful outside. once you have patted your chicken dry. 

season both sides of your chicken with salt and pepper. then, place your oil in your pan and heat over medium high heat. 

when your oil is nice and hot (it will look a little shiny) gently place your chicken into the pan, being careful to lay it in the direction going away from you, ensuring you do not splatter oil on yourself. 

allow the chicken to cook, undisturbed until you can start to see the edges cooking through. about 3 to 4 minutes. 

once you see your chicken edges cooking through, gently flip your chicken breast. 

let it complete cooking,, undisturbed for and additional 3-4 minutes. the chicken is cooked through when the internal temp reaches 165 f, HOWEVER here are the important details they fail to tell you! foods continue to cook after they are removed from heat, so you don't want to cook your chicken all the way to 165 in the pan. if you do so, when you remove it and allow it to rest, the chicken will actually over cook. so, if you are not used to gauging the doneness of chicken by look or feel (the chicken should feel like the muscle at the base of your thumb when it is cooked through) and you are using a meat thermometer, you want to cook it between 155-160 degrees f. 

so once you have determined your chicken is done (it is cooked to temp and golden brown on both sides) remove it from the pan and allow it to rest. resting is very important in ensuring a moist piece of chicken. moisture absorbs back into proteins as they cool down, so give your chicken about 5-7 minutes to rest before slicing into it. 

once it is removed from the pan, loosely tent the chicken breast with foil. 

once the chicken has rested, slice and enjoy.

xo, a

i was hunting through old posts for a recipe i needed and i stumbled upon some vintage angela ramblings. it was some longwinded monologue on the fact that wesley and i are in a constant battle over style vs function. 

it got me to laughing about how nothing has really changed, and our garden has become as big of a battle ground as our kitchen. i'm all about introducing colors and flowers into the garden so that our eyes are as pleased as our pallets. but wesley only wants things in the garden that we can eat. 

well i found a solution to our conflict. lots of edible flowers. i get my florals, he gets his function. the only downfall is that we have way more nasturtiums than i know what to do with. so i'm getting creative. btw this is ONE of my areas with nasturtiums AFTER i harvested it. 

wes has been raving about a few of the dishes at his new job and all of them seem so beautifully simple. so i took that idea to the nasturtiums. and the results were delightfully bright, spicy and crisp.

nasturtium & crispy shallot salad
serves: 2
prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 5 minutes
total time: 20 minutes
ingredients: 4 cups chopped nasturtium leaves. 2 cups nasturtium flowers. 1 shallot, sliced thin. .25 cup + 2 tbs olive oil. 3 tbs lemon juice. 2 tbs soy sauce. 2 garlic cloves, so finely minced they become a paste. 1 tbs brown sugar. .5 tsp kosher salt. .25 tsp pepper.

start by combining the leaves and flowers in a salad bowl and setting it aside. 

to make the dressing, combine .25 cup olive oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar and pepper in a medium bowl and whisk until well combined. 

set it aside with the greens. heat your remaining oil in medium pan. 

season the shallots with the salt and add the shallots to the very hot oil. 

you will know the oil is hot enough when you test one shallot and it sizzles the second it hits the pan. fry up the shallots till golden brown and crispy. about 5 minutes. 

remove them from the pan to a paper towel to remove any excess oil. 

drizzle your salad with the dressing and toss well.

top with crispy shallot and serve. 

xo, a

nasturtium & crispy shallot salad
serves: 2
prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 5 minutes
total time: 20 minutes
ingredients: 4 cups chopped nasturtium leaves. 2 cups nasturtium flowers. 1 shallot, sliced thin. .25 cup + 2 tbs olive oil. 3 tbs lemon juice. 2 tbs soy sauce. 2 garlic cloves, so finely minced they become a paste. 1 tbs brown sugar. .5 tsp kosher salt. .25 tsp pepper.
start by combining the leaves and flowers in a salad bowl and setting it aside. to make the dressing, combine .25 cup olive oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar and pepper in a medium bowl and whisk until well combined. set it aside with the greens. heat your remaining oil in medium pan. season the shallots with the salt and add the shallots to the very hot oil. you will know the oil is hot enough when you test one shallot and it sizzles the second it hits the pan. fry up the shallots till golden brown and crispy. about 5 minutes.remove them from the pan to a paper towel to remove any excess oil. drizzle your salad with the dressing and toss well. top with crispy shallot and serve.