Fast and Slow chicken during quarentine
Just got both instapot and new fast and slow cookbook. I usually use thighs as recommended but in this time of quarantine I find myself settling for boneless breasts when I get food from the store. No thighs or bone in breasts available. How do I use the breasts in place of thighs until I can shop more effectively?
Comments
Hi Kevin - It probably depends on the recipe. Do you have a specific recipe in mind that I can give you the specifics for? Just let us know! Best, Lynn C.
Looking at braised ginger chicken and butter chicken
Excellent question.
Excellent question!
Hi - We mostly use chicken thighs in our Instant Pot recipes because they are higher in fat and, therefore, more forgiving when cooked under pressure. A minute or two difference in cooking chicken breasts could be the difference between moist and dry chicken. I think you could probably substitute bone-in chicken breasts for the thighs in the Braised Ginger Chicken and boneless, skinless chicken breasts for the thighs in the butter chicken but the cooking time should be reduced. Unfortunately, since we didn't test this, I can't give you a definitive cooking time. It may require a bit of experimenting to get the right timing to ensure the chicken is cooked through but not overcooked. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.
I would like to use my slow cooker for Korean Braised Short Ribs. What changes should I make to the recipe to change to a Slow Cooker? Margaret T.
Hi Margaret - If you go to the recipe on the website here, under the Directions there are two tabs - one says "Fast," one says "Slow." If you click on the "Slow" tab it will give you the instructions for how to make it in an Instant Pot using the Slow Cooking feature. Unfortunately, we haven't tested the recipe in a traditional slow cooker. I hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.
Dear Milk Street Team,
Question about the Fast and Slow chicken recipes: many recipes such as the one on page 157 ask for bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. Then to remove and discard the skin. I can follow that thought as it may be difficult to find bone-in, skinless thighs. But then, in the cooking directions it says 'place chicken skin side down into the pot'. I find this confusing. Does it mean the side where the 'skin used to be before removing'? Also, maybe that's just me, some of the photographs look as if the skin is still on the thighs... again, that may just be my imagination. I would appreciate clarification. Thank you for a great cookbook.
Stay safe out there,
Ursula
Hi Ursula - Yes, this means to put the chicken flesh side down in the pot. For some of these chicken dishes, we are browning the chicken more to add flavor to the overall dish than to the chicken itself. The browned bits left in the pan add flavor to the braising liquids and/or sauces. I think what you may be seeing in the pictures is the browning on the chicken rather than the skin. We recommend removing the skin for Instant Pot recipes since there is no way to keep the skin crispy in the moist environment of a pressure cooker. Best, Lynn C.