Pan Seared Chicken Breast

Probably one of the biggest cooking misconceptions in Trinidad & Tobago is that meat needs to be marinated in seasoning for hours in order for the final dish to taste well-seasoned. In this recipe I’m going to show you how you can achieve great flavors without pre-seasoning or marinating your meat. We’re going to be pan searing our chicken breasts which is basically using medium to high heat to cook our meat until it browns and forms a crust.

We’re going to use four basic ingredients to season and cook two chicken breasts

• 6 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 8 sprigs of thyme
• salt and black pepper (to taste)

Believe it or not, that’s all we need. Of course, you can switch the thyme out for shadon beni, rosemary, sage, basil or any other herb that you like. We’re also taking it a step further by stuffing our chicken breasts with the garlic and thyme. Its important to have our garlic minced or in a paste as well to ensure we’re extracting the most flavor out of it. I used a box grater here to achieve the paste-like consistency.

To season the chicken breasts:

1. Use a sharp knife to cut a pocket length ways down the center of the breast.
2. Stuff pocket with garlic, thyme and sprinkle a little salt
3. Season the surface of the breasts with salt and black pepper

Cooking method:

1. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan, add garlic cloves and thyme to the oil to infuse more flavor into the oil.
2. Add your chicken breasts and cook on each side for about 5 minutes per side.
3. Cover and reduce the heat to low to allow the breasts to cook for another 15 minutes.
4. After 25 minutes of cook time your breasts should be done. Remove from the pan and allow to rest for about 3 to 5 minutes to allow the juices to re-absorb into the meat giving you a more succulent final product.

I know some of you are going to be skeptical but trust me, this was a very tasty, well-seasoned dish. Try it and let me know how it goes in the comment section below. Enjoy!