Q Why are boned chicken breasts dry and tough? Lately, I cooked them covered with water in the pan so they'd stay moist and the cat wouldn't eat them.
A Even though this defies logic, water doesn't moisten extremely lean meats such as chicken breasts. Slow, gentle cooking keeps much of the natural moisture in the cells of the chicken.
The key is to do a quick sear over high heat and then gently cook them over medium-low heat.
One other trick to keeping chicken breasts moist is to brine them. Figure 45 minutes to two hours in the refrigerator in a brine of 1/4 cup kosher salt to 1 quart very cold water (sugar, chiles and other flavorings could be added to the brine).
Today's recipe illustrates the chicken-breast-cooking technique.
Chicken trivia Q In a trivia game, a friend claimed that different-size chicken eggs come from what the chicken eats or its breed. Somehow that didn't sit right with the crowd, so we voted to ask you. What causes different-sized eggs?
A Believe it or not, the main influence on egg size is the hen's age. Youngsters (10 or so months old) lay peewees, then as the hen grows, so does the egg size, until you get to the grand dames at 20 to 24 months old who lay jumbo eggs. Extreme heat, crowding and poor nutrition diminish egg size, too.
If you have any doubt, check out the American Egg Board site, www.aeb.org, and be sure to look at the item about eggshell and earlobe color. Who knew hens have earlobes?
