My grocery shopping this week left me with two rhetorical questions.
The first is about chicken breasts. I bought boneless skinless chicken breast halves last week and one of them weighed more than a pound. How big was the chicken that it came from? When did we, as consumers, decide that we needed to eat more than a pound of chicken in a sitting?
I remember talking to a chicken geneticist years ago who said, quite casually, “If we could breed a chicken that was all breast and nothing else – no wings, no legs – that would be a triumph.” I recoiled at the thought, but wondered this week if breeders were getting closer to that goal.
The second is about jalapeños. They used to be my go-to chile when I needed a bump of heat in a dish, but the ones I chose this week were as mild as bell peppers. When did that happen? They were big and beautifully glossy — absolutely flawless — to be sure, but without even a single Scoville unit. We consumers have apparently persuaded chile breeders that we want jalapeños with no heat.
Then I remembered my friend Amal Naj, who wrote and illustrated a fabulously charming book called “Peppers: A Story of Hot Pursuits” back in 1992. I was the food editor at The Detroit News then, and I interviewed the equally charming author when he came through town promoting the book.
He told me about visiting with chile breeders all around the world, and specifically about how American pepper breeders were frantic to develop a jalapeños that had little heat. They succeeded, and among the most widely planted varieties today are the family of TAM hybrids — TAM mild, TAM mild II, TAM Veracruz, TAM Dulcito, and more.
Most of these varieties possess enhanced disease and pest resistance, so commercial growers don’t have to spray the growing peppers with fungicides and pesticides. That’s a good thing for the environment, the growers and us.
And I remembered something else that Amal told me. You’ve seen jalapeños with little brown streaks or stripes running their length? In the growers’ parlance, that’s called “corking,” and most consumers prefer corking-free jalapeños — because we Americans have a fetish for flawless produce.
But corking indicates that the pepper plant was stressed while growing — maybe it didn’t get enough water, or temperatures were too cool or too hot, or any of several other stressors. Plants under stress produce fruit with corking. Peppers with corking tend to be hotter than others.
So if you want spicy-hot jalapeños, choose peppers with corking.
Or, if you’re me, you’ll just select serranos in the future.
Incidentally, to “hasselback” something means to cut it in such a way that there are slits for stuffing. It’s a popular way to prepare potatoes, but my late sister used to hasselback a pork loin and stuff the slits with mushrooms, ham and Swiss cheese. I think heavy cream was involved, as well. I remember it as almost overpoweringly rich.
These hasselbacked chicken breasts are nowhere near as overwhelming, but every bit as good.
Hasselback chicken breast
Makes about 4 servings
Chicken breast halves seem increasingly large, so don’t hesitate to cut them half cross-wise if necessary. Using chopsticks prevents the knife from cutting all the way through the breast, so the slits go almost, but not through, the flesh. Reserve any leftover seasoning mix to sprinkle over the baked breasts just before serving.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon hot chile powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, 6 to 8 ounces each
4 ounces raw bacon, cut in half crosswise, deli-sliced ham or salami
4 ounces pepper jack cheese, cut into sticks
4 serrano chiles, sliced into rings
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
While the oven preheats, combine the chile powder, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a work surface. Place a chicken breast on the parchment, then lay chopsticks parallel to the breast on either side of it. Slice the breast crosswise in 4 or 5 places. Repeat with remaining breasts.
Season each breast with some of the seasoning mixture, top and bottom and inside the slits. Reserve any remaining seasoning mixture to sprinkle over the baked breasts. Transfer the parchment paper to a baking sheet.
Line each slit in a chicken breast with a slice or piece of the bacon, ham or salami. Tuck a stick of pepper jack into each slit, then add rings of sliced serrano chiles.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle and is firm when prodded with a paring knife.
Sprinkle any remaining seasoning mixture over the baked breasts and serve immediately.
