
I bought some frozen chicken tenders on sale at Safeway and figured that when the bag said “Cook from Frozen” prominently on the front that it meant I could pop them in the microwave for a few minutes and, voila, cooked chicken. Since I was planning on using them shredded for chicken tacos, in soup, or maybe chicken salad for lunch I did not need browning. Sadly I should have read the back of the package which said pan fry, oven roast, or grill.
So we roasted the tenders in the oven and they came out fine, just took longer. I cut my piece up into strips to put put in my “stand-up taco shell (heat briefly in microwave)”, then added salsa verde, salsa, cheese, cabbage, onion, and cilantro. Next I heated the taco and its filling in the microwave for 30 seconds. The microwaving gave the taco a more leathery texture which was good since it did not end up shattering all over the place.
The beans were simply a mix of canned black beans, Rotel, and cilantro stems. Since I am cutting down on salt they probably could have used some chipotle powder to give them a flavor boost.
Frozen stuff won’t cook evenly in the microwave. Cooking directly from frozen works best in sous vide. That’s the only way you won’t overcook the outside when cooking directly from frozen.
LikeLike
I guess for such small pieces of chicken I should have just bought a rotisserie chicken and gotten the bonus meat and bones for other purposes. We cook larger pieces of chicken sous vide but setting up the whole apparatus for four little chicken tenders seemed like too big a hassle.
LikeLike
Pingback: Chicken taco with spicy beans. 4/27/24 – Omnivore | My Meals are on Wheels