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Omnivoria:
Dark Meat Really Does Taste Better
by Alice Swan, from the October 2006 newsletter
Several years ago, a foodie friend said something to me about “boneless, skinless, tasteless chicken breast,” as he was cutting up and cooking a whole chicken. I had never cooked a whole chicken, learned behavior from my mother, who in spite of being a wonderful cook, has a phobia about any meat with bones or skin attached. Her phobia means that I grew up eating mainly boneless, skinless chicken breasts. My friend’s comment, and the really delicious sautéed chicken we ate that night made me pay a little more attention to the flavor and quality of the chicken that I eat.
There is no doubt that chicken cooked with bones and skin has more flavor and is moister than its less messy counterparts. (It also leaves you with lots of fodder for making homemade chicken broth, which is extremely easy to do, and tastier than the canned versions). But it’s also hard to argue with the convenience of boneless, skinless chicken meat. The boneless, skinless chicken from Petaluma Poultry that the Co-op carries offers a nice compromise between taste and convenience.
Petaluma Poultry (henceforth PP) is (not surprisingly) based in Petaluma, California. The business was started in 1969, and its initial focus was providing chicken to specialty ethnic markets. Ten years later, the company opened its own feed mill so that it could better control the quality of its chicken feed. Then in 1986, PP stopped using antibiotics in its feed, and began focusing more on the natural foods market. Allen Shainsky, the company’s founder, started working on producing a chicken with “old-fashioned flavor” (I take this to mean better flavor), which included traveling to the Loire Valley in France to study how chickens are raised there. Tough life, huh?
The result of Shainsky’s research was a feed based on corn and soy with no animal byproducts, animal fat or antibiotics, and the introduction of Rocky, the first commercially available free-range chicken in the United States. Subsequent additions to their products have been Rocky Jr. (a smaller chicken, which is not free-range, because the chickens are younger, hence not yet fully feathered, and unable to withstand the chilly Northern California outdoors when they are processed), and Rosie, the first certified organic chicken in the United States. PP chickens have about twice as much space per chicken in their naturally-lit henhouses as conventionally raised chickens, and they are free to roam inside, not confined in cages. Rocky and Rosie chickens also have an equal amount of outdoor space, in fenced pens, where they can roam and forage.
As if the way the chickens are raised isn’t good enough, the folks at PP also have a strong commitment to their employees, the community, and sustainability.
They helped create the national organic standards for chicken, and have also helped defend them against corporate chicken interests. A visit to their Web site, petalumapoultry.com, will provide anyone interested with all the nitty-gritty details that I don’t have space for here.
The Co-op carries both breasts and thighs of the boneless, skinless variety from PP. Scott, the manager of the meat department, suggested that I write about the thighs in particular, and I was initially reluctant—my upbringing of eating only boneless, skinless breasts had made me a little squeamish about dark meat. He was so enthusiastic about the Rocky Jr. thighs, though, that I decided to abandon my prejudices and try them. The thighs were so moist and flavorful that I may never go back to eating breasts.
Once again, we had friends over to help taste the featured recipe and they also admitted to having an aversion to dark meat, but loved the thighs. PP chicken breasts have more flavor than conventional breasts because of what the chickens eat and how they are raised, and in this writer’s opinion the thighs easily beat the breasts in rich chicken flavor. This is in part, of course, because they have more fat, and as Julia Child taught, fat tastes good. Thighs tend to be a more reasonable one-person serving size than breasts, and for those people who have toddlers (as I do), have the added benefit of not being as easy to overcook as breasts are, for those many moments that you have to interrupt cooking dinner to change a diaper or soothe a bumped head.
Finally, for those nights when even figuring out what to do with the boneless, skinless chicken is too much, the Co-op carries an ever-rotating variety of delicious pre-marinated chicken that you can quickly grill or broil and serve with a yummy salad from the deli. Scott recommends the Rosemary Garlic Dijon thighs in particular.
Braised Chicken Thighs with Apples and Sage
Adapted from Gourmet, December 2005, via epicurious.com
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (1 package of Rocky Jr. thighs)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp packed brown sugar
2 apples (Gala or other sweet variety), peeled, cored & cut into 1/2-inch wedges
½ c chopped shallots
2/3 c chicken broth
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp chopped fresh sage, plus more for garnish
Pat chicken dry and sprinkle all over with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over moderately high heat. Brown chicken well, about 5 minutes on each side. If you have lots of fat in the pan, pour some off so there is about 1 Tbsp left. Add butter, brown sugar, apples, and shallots and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are soft, about 5 minutes. Add broth, vinegar, and sage, and deglaze skillet. Return chicken to skillet on top of apples, along with any juices accumulated on plate. Reduce heat and simmer, loosely covered with foil, until chicken is cooked through and sauce is slightly reduced, 20-25 minutes.
Serves 3 hungry people, or 6 as a light meal or with heavier side dishes.
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