I don’t know about you but from time to time, I find meat that is a bit freezer burned. It is good just dry if I try to saute it, my usual meat cooking method. I don’t throw it away, because I can make it into something quite good.
How? By poaching it. Don’t let the word scare you off, poaching food is basically just putting it in a little liquid and bringing it to a simmer until it is cooked through. The gentle heat combined with cooking mostly immersed in liquid turns out moist, tender meat, even if it started out dried out in the freezer. A confit, the “t” is silent, is poaching in oil instead of liquid. I just used water, but here is a place to add flavor by using a different cooking liquid. Use chicken broth to really increase that chicken flavor, or cook in part or all wine, beer, cider or any liquid you enjoy and that goes with your dish. Fresh or dried herbs and spices can be added to the liquid. Fruit can be poached in wine, fruit juice or honey.
I like chicken cordon blu. Chicken, ham and swiss cheese wrapped up in bread crumbs. But a pasta salad? Yep. Poached chicken thighs, cubes of ham and of Swiss cheese, and diced onion. I thought about diced apple, but decided to go with the core flavors. The dressing was a creamy blend of half mayo, half mustard with just a touch of red wine vinegar and some sweet pickle relish. The exact flavor of the deviled eggs of my childhood enveloping pasta, proteins and onion.
So, I rescued some chicken thighs that were forgotten in the freezer and changed up my pasta salad recipe, such as it is, to have the tastes of a dish I like. All without a recipe. Have fun, try something different. Tomorrow, I might try to make rice balls, or I might not feel like doing anything. In that case, I have a few containers of pasta salad to come to my rescue.
A Timid Goddess in the Kitchen 