Perfect Poached Chicken Breasts with Warm Tomato-Ginger Vinaigrette

Let's consider this dish atonement. 

As you might have seen on Instagram, we've spent the past five days in New Orleans, eating as if our lives depended on it. We made the rounds and will share a rundown of that with you next week. We landed back in our nation's capital early yesterday morning, and, Bittens, we need some light eating in our lives. Pass us the raw kale, the protein shakes and the fresh fruit. It is diet detox time. (At least for a few days.)

Just before our trip, we delved back into the world of poached chicken. The last (and first) time we made poached chicken -- with Food & Wine's Chinese-Style Poached Chicken with Pear and Orange -- we were underwhelmed. The individual components were fine (with the chicken being unsurprisingly bland) but on the whole we didn't love that dish. 

But we're not ones to give up, so when we got the newest Cook's Illustrated and saw they had a feature on Perfect Poached Chicken, we got back into the poaching game. 

There's a lot to like in this recipe, mostly importantly including that the chicken is so darn good. Once you've brined it in a flavored water, you turn on the heat, bring the water up to temperature, and then let the chicken cook off heat, covered. The result is some seriously moist chicken, with just the right texture. It's the kind of chicken breast you dream of. Is the chicken flavorful? Mildly so. There's more flavor than the Chinese-Style Poached Chicken, but the flavor is still very mild. 

Thankfully, there's a solution for that. Dan Souza, the recipe's author, devises two sauces that can accompany the chicken. The first is a Cumin-Cilantro Yogurt Sauce; the other a Warm Tomato-Ginger Vinaigrette. We opted for the tomato vinaigrette, and it is simple but knock-your-socks-off good. We can't wait to use the same vinaigrette this summer alongside some grilled items. 

We're counting our second attempt at Poached Chicken as a success. Give this recipe a whirl and let us know if you agree. 

In the meantime, we'll be over here, dreaming of beignets but nibbling on blueberries. 

via:http://www.thebittenword.com/thebittenword/2014/03/perfect-poached-chicken-breasts-with-warm-tomato-ginger-vinaigrette.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBittenWord+%28The+Bitten+Word%29