Skillet Chicken Redone

Any skillet dish can be a boring one, especially if it involves chicken. Yet suppose it was livened up with tomatoes and crispy pancetta.It would turn from a snoozefest to a lively celebration. It can be done - and easily too. A novice home chef can even have fun with this.

It was the subject of Melissa Clark's  A Good Appetite column in yesterday's New York Times Food section.She takes's a beginner's dish and elevates it to something quite special. skillet chicken is simply taking cut up chicken brown it in  wide skillet, add a splash of water or chicken broth and then finish it in the oven for a nice golden brown look.For variation, sometimes a dash of white wine is added or rosemary.sometimes American cheese  or Velveeta is added, A few recipes call for Campbell's mushroom soup. However these tend to detract  from the chicken however a simple recipe may beg for more flavor. - and that doesn't mean more broth a a discreet pat of butter added.

Ms Clark turns on the flavor,There is pancetta that is crisped in the pan before the chicken. the chicken is cooked in the rendered fat giving it much more taste. after that's been thoroughly browned save the pan along with the combined fats from the chicken and pancetta for plum tomatoes, garlic and pepper flakes. The wild card addition is anchovies which gives it depth.The final touch in this pizza like dish, balls of mozzarella , known as bocconcini. Grated mozzarella can be used  instead to create a more blankety covering for the chicken. If anchovies aren't your thing, Ms.Clark suggests olives or capers for  saltiness and richness. Swap onion for garlic for sweetness along with rosemary for basil.Also sub in all legs or breasts  if you want. Wing lovers should just go for wings along with making it all dark or all white meat. I would serve this with a huge crusty loaf of Italian bread too to sop up everything.

Skillet chicken need not be boring.Add some tomatoes, mozzarella and pancetta, along with garlic and anchovies for an exciting dish. It's a different spin on a classic dish,