SERVES 4 AS A MAIN DISH OR 6 AS AN APPETIZER

To make an entrée, serve this dish with steamed white rice.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
This dish, popularized by chain restaurants like P.F. Chang’s and the Cheesecake Factory, is based on a Cantonese dish called sung choy bao. Most recipes for this dish suffer from a similar fate—stringy, tasteless meat drowned in a bland sauce. To remedy this, we started with flavorful chicken thighs and marinated them in soy sauce and rice wine. To keep the meat from drying out when stir-fried, we coated it in a velvetizing cornstarch slurry, which helped it retain moisture as it cooked.

Serves 6

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Cooking canned pinto beans for our Chicken Tostadas with Spicy Cabbage Slaw in a skillet along with some of the juice from the can gave them a creamy texture similar to refried beans. Tasters preferred queso fresco—a fresh, soft Mexican cheese available in many markets—in our Chicken Tostadas with Spicy Cabbage Slaw; however, we found we could use crumbled feta cheese instead. To save time we went with a bag of coleslaw mix instead of making the slaw from scratch. Using jarred jalapeños allowed us to add some of the brine to flavor the tostada filling as well as the slaw.

Serves 4

Use any combination of white and dark meat. For even cooking, halve breasts crosswise and separate leg quarters into thighs and drumsticks. Reduced-fat sour cream can be used in this recipe. We like to serve this chicken over egg noodles or rice.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces gave our Chicken Paprikash the best flavor of all the possibilities we tested. If left on, the skin imparted an unwelcome greasiness to the sauce. We easily remedied this by discarding the skin after browning the chicken.

We discovered that not all vegetables were right for this dish. Some were slimy, others added too much bulk, and many detracted from the sweetness of the paprika. Caramelized onions and red bell peppers worked best. We really needed to pile on the paprika before it became noticeable in our Chicken Paprikash. But in large quantities it tasted harsh and gritty. A bit of tomato paste offset the bitterness of the paprika while allowing us to include enough of the spice to do justice to the dish’s namesake.

Serves 3 to 4

Try not to purchase heads of garlic that contain enormous cloves; if unavoidable, increase the foil-covered baking time to 40 to 45 minutes so that the largest cloves soften fully. A large Dutch oven can be used in place of a skillet, if you prefer. Broiling the chicken for a few minutes at the end of cooking crisps the skin, but this step is optional. Serve the dish with slices of crusty baguette for dipping into the sauce and onto which the roasted garlic cloves can be spread.

Serves 4 to 6

We prefer the flavor and texture of chunky peanut butter in the sauce; in particular, we like conventional chunky peanut butter because it tends to be sweeter than natural or old-fashioned versions.

SERVES 4 AS A MAIN DISH WITH RICE

To make the chicken easier to slice, freeze it for 20 minutes until it is firm, but not frozen.

Serves 6

Getting the initial oil temperature to 375 degrees is key to the success of this recipe. An instant-read thermometer with a high upper range is perfect for checking the temperature; a clip-on candy/deep-fry thermometer is also fine. If your Dutch oven measures 11 inches across (as ours does), you will need to fry the steaks in two batches.

Serves 6 to 8

Serves 10 to 12

Instead of drumsticks and thighs, you may use 2 whole leg quarters, 1 1/2 to 2 pounds each. The recipe will also work with turkey breast alone; in step 2, reduce the butter to 1 1/2 tablespoons, the salt to 1 1/2 teaspoons, and the pepper to 1 teaspoon. If you are roasting kosher or self-basting turkey parts, season the turkey with only 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.

SERVES 4 TO 6

When seasoning the dish at the end, be mindful that the prosciutto adds a fair amount of salt. It is important to use a piece of thickly sliced prosciutto in this recipe; thin strips will become tough and stringy. An equal amount of thickly sliced pancetta or bacon can be used in place of the prosciutto. Serve the chicken with boiled potatoes, noodles, or polenta to absorb extra sauce.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
For a chicken Canzanese recipe that was tender and juicy, we opted for chicken thighs, which contain more connective tissue than breasts. We made a rich flavor base with prosciutto and garlic, then added white wine and chicken broth to our recipe, which we simmered in a wide, shallow skillet. We then returned the chicken to the pan and cooked it in the oven uncovered, which allowed our chicken Canzanese’s sauce to reduce and also preserved its crispy skin.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/cooking-science/2013/01/we-prove-it-low-and-slow-is-best-for-braising-meat/