The 'boring' chicken fillet

Nordwind

I tend to eat this meat at least five times a week but I've never actually tried to liven it up a bit when I'm cooking it. Typically, I'll steam the chicken fillet (used to cook it on the George Foreman), have some wholewheat pasta (for the last five minutes of cooking I'll throw in a few peppers) and when it's all cooked I'll sprinkle some sesame seed oil or walnut oil over it. An extremely bland meal one might say. So how can I spice this up a bit? If it's any help to you guys I've started purchasing packets of frozen veg (spinach, broccoli, peas, carrots).

Thanks.

briano1984

sometimes wat i'll do wit bit of chicken is chop it up and fry for about 6/7 mins wit an onion. i'll put a small pan full of mixed veg into a pot to boil(carrots, peas, etc) then i usually add some sauce, sweet and sour or even black bean. either have wit some noodles or else small bit of rice

Nordwind

The odd time I do fry it, sometimes with some honey and lemon, but I want to try and steam it as much as possible.

briano1984

yeah is prob the better option alright. another option wit the chicken is u could stick it in the oven for a while. put on some potatoes, carrots, broccolli and boil them up. the chicken can be then cooked in a chicken chaeuer sauce..sort of like a sweet and sour but not as sweet. can either mix all the veg in wit chicken or serve seperate

Gavin "shels"

My dad makes up a sauce (Oregano, pepper, barbeque sauce, tomato ketchup and a few other minor things) mixes it up in a bowl, covers the fillets in the sauce then throwing them onto a grill pan or during the summer the barbeque. Nice and tasty.

If you are looking for a treat. Cut the fillets into strips, then cover in beaten egg and then coat with breadcrumbs. Either freeze or cook straight away. To cook just deep fat fry them(:mad:) and they take about no more than 10 minutes depending on size of the strips.

olaola

Mix up a little goats cheese (not from the roll - from the tubs) with some pesto and rub it over the outside of the fillet.
I usually BBQ it - but you could grill/bake/griddle it. Have it with some taziki in a pitta with salad.

catho9000

How about buying some fresh veggies like broccoli and spinach instead of frozen. You could simply fry up some garlic (low heat on a pan with olive oil) throw in chicken, then any veggies that you like and lastly your boiled pasta, serve with grated parmesan and black pepper. there is a cookbook called 3 or 4 ingrediants which has some great recipe suggestions..

Nordwind

Okay guys, before steaming it would it be okay to stuff it with some veg? Also, since my veg is frozen I'll be stuffing the fillet with frozen veg, is this okay? (Although come to think of it, the veg will be well done since the chicken takes a while to steam)

Nordwind

But frozen vegetables are supposedly healthier and are cheaper?

m.j.w

How do you steam cook a chicken fillet? I usualy just oven them

Nordwind

Well I just have an electric steamer at home and I just leave it there for 20-25 minutes and that's it. Absolutely no maintenance whatsoever.

olaola

Nordwind wrote: »

But frozen vegetables are supposedly healthier and are cheaper?

I'd be hard pushed to use any frozen veg other than peas or spinach. I don't think the others work too well - they tend to get very soggy.

Nordwind

Hmmm, never really noticed to be honest. Maybe I'm overcooking them and that's why I've never seen a difference. Any suggestions on the filling of the fillet before putting it in the steamer - can this be done/is it done?

helimachoptor

The thread of my life!

Ok.. chicken stuffed with orange/apricots/apples and a caramelized sauce.

I usually cut a couple of rashers up fry them a little, stuff them in the chicken with some cheese and grill.

I grill most of my food on the george, how did i ever cope without it.

January

Put the chicken fillet in the grill to brown, chop some onion, mushroom and peppers up and saute them in a pan.

Get some tin foil and put the browned chicken on it, cover with the sauted veg and wrap the tin foil around it like a parcel.

Put it in the oven on high for about half an hour. Check it to make sure it's not burned (my oven is a bit old and a bit weird... adjust times accordingly :S)

Steam some baby potatoes and take chicken out of oven, onto plate and eat!

Nordwind

But I want to steam 99% of my food!

The Sweeper

Nordwind, I'm not sure stuffing your chicken fillets before steaming them is going to make them nice. Steaming your food essentially like boiling it, and most fillings for meat are designed to be moist in themselves - for instance you could mix goats cheese, wilted spinach and pine nuts with some nutmeg and black pepper, and stuff your chicken breast with that, but then steaming it? I don't think it would be as nice.

That said, can you wrap your chicken fillets in a parcel of tinfoil and put them in your steamer all wrapped up? If you can, you'll find recipes to add flavour will work a lot better, because your food will be cooking with the heat of steaming without the 'wetness'.

If you don't like the idea of tinfoil, try wrapping your chicken in chinese cabbage leaves and using some chinese style seasonings...

Tree

Nordwind wrote: »

Okay guys, before steaming it would it be okay to stuff it with some veg? Also, since my veg is frozen I'll be stuffing the fillet with frozen veg, is this okay? (Although come to think of it, the veg will be well done since the chicken takes a while to steam)

you'd really have to make certain that you extended the cooking time of the chicken to take into account the extra bit of coldness in the middles. you dont want to get food poisoning from undercooking the middle of the breast.

dh2007

stuff with goats cheese (preferably chevre) and basil

then, bake in the oven in a ratatouille sauce.

armour87

Just had a pan fried fillet, seasoned with salt and pepper, some garlic diced in with the oil. Cook for 10 mins, Slice in half and add mozzarella and BBQ sauce. Pop in the oven and melt the cheese. Had some Uncle Bens microwavable chicken flavour rice with.

whatsgoinon

i usually poach my chicken fillet with ginger, garlic and some coriander for about 25 mins, towards the end, I steam fresh spinach and green beans or broccoli or mangetout to have with it. use lemon juice instead of butter. as i'm eating it, i'm wishing the the chicken breast was coated with crispy breadcrumbs and deep fried, damn healthy eating

The Sweeper

whatsgoinon wrote: »

as i'm eating it, i'm wishing the the chicken breast was coated with crispy breadcrumbs and deep fried, damn healthy eating

You feel like this...

whatsgoinon wrote: »

mangetout to have with it.

Because you're eating it with the devil's vegetable.

There's not much in the world I won't eat, but I bloody hate mange tout.

whatsgoinon

I'd eat mangetout over cauliflower any day of the week, looks like baby brains, disgusting...

another one for the chicken fillet:
slice it finely, very finely, poach it and make some kind of soup out of it, heap in bean sprouts, spring onions and loads of coriander, then drop in some noodles, pretend you are in south east asia and enjoy!

Show_me_Safety

slash the fillet in the middle and fill with a big dollop of philidelphia.
then wrap a rasher around it, and sprinkle it with basil and some walnut oil and put into the oven at 180 for 30 mins.

so good

Nordwind

Thanks for some of the replies...the ones that take into account that I will be steaming the chicken and not putting it in the oven/frying it.

Mr.Boots

I have never steamed a chicken fillet.....only whole chickens.
I ate the chicken with a "dip" which contained finely chopped ginger, spring onion, salt, white pepper and oil.
Gorgeous with some fluffy boiled rice.

dr.bollocko

You could bread the chicken, you know the way, dip fillet into egg and flour, and then breadcrumbs. U could make your own or pre-buy some breadcrumbs, chuck on some cheese, onion or chilli or whatever (I used to use bashed up cornflake bits so anything goes). You could also cut the fillet to make chicken nuggets. Par-boil some potato chopped up to wedges for approx 10 mins, take out and dry, mix with olive oil, paprika, Cumin and hot chilli powder, bash into oven 20 minutes, Voila! You have chicken nuggets n chips only its nicer and homemade, the girlfriend is impressed, its taken u about 20 minutes and you havent even missed the match.


EDIT. Dangit breaded chicken wouldnt steam well. You're on your own!

The Hill Billy

OP - To put it simply - you are not going to get a huge amount of flavour into a chicken breast if you insist on steaming it. You would be best adding flavours after it has been cooked by way of sauces (eg, soy, chilli, etc.) and herbs/spices (eg, fresh coriander or parsley, paprika, julienned ginger, etc.).

Is it just that you like the texture/taste of steamed chicken? If so, grilled chicken would be just as healthy, if not more so as any fat will drip away from the meat. Even frying it in a little oil ain't going to kill you.

Minder

Nordwind wrote: »

But I want to steam 99% of my food!

Then accept that your food will be bland - look for a selection of different condiments that will add a variety of flavours to your plate.

As Woody Allen said "To live to one hundred, you have to give up all the things that would make you want to live to one hundred"

catho_monster

Just one comment for the OP
If you're concerned with the health/dietary implications of how you cook your chicken, poaching is definately an option on par with steaming. No fats are added.
Think about it this way. Steaming places the chicken above the water. Poaching places it in the water, and if you use the water as part of the dish (i.e. soup, noodles, stock) it multiplies the flavour of the dish ten fold, with no compromise on health. You can also, more easily, put flavours into the poaching liquid than you can on commercial electric steamers (which specifiy that only water can be used).

neuro-praxis

Why exactly do you want to steam the chicken so much?

it is no better for your health than grilling, boiling or roasting it. You can even marinade it in spices and then steam-fry it in a hot wok using a little boiling water or stock instead of oil.

If you insist on steaming it, then learn how to cook sauces to drizzle over it afterwards.