Serious Eats: Recipes
Lorraine Wallace's Sesame Chicken
The following recipe is from the May 30 edition of our weekly recipe newsletter. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here!
[Photograph: Alexandra Grablewski]
Chicken breasts are one of those go-to dinner making essentials that most folks have stocked in the fridge or freezer for those nights that raise the question, "What's for dinner?" This Sesame Chicken from Lorraine Wallace's Mr. Sunday's Saturday Night Chicken takes a classic weeknight dinner dish and gives it a welcome twist. Wallace briefly marinates the breasts in buttermilk, adding a slight tang and warding off any dryness. Seasoned with herbs de Provence and coated in a blend of panko and sesame, the chicken is baked through, getting basted a few times along the way with butter for added richness. Served alongside some wilted spinach, it's a meal that comes together in just about half an hour, which is often exactly what weeknight eating calls for.
What Worked: Chicken breast have a tendency to be, well, blah. Adding a tart buttermilk soak, fragrant herbs de Provence, and crunchy, butter crust serves them well.
What Didn't: Cooking times were a little off; our sesame chicken took an extra five minutes to brown up nicely.
Suggested Tweaks: Crunchy panko mixed with nutty sesame seeds makes for a great breading. Perhaps next time we'll switch out the herbs de Provence for some smoked paprika.
Reprinted with permission from Mr. Sunday's Saturday Night Chicken by Lorraine Wallace. Copyright © 2012. Published by Wiley. Available wherever books are sold. All rights reserved.
