Tasty Tomatillo Chicken Escalopes
5-Ingredient Recipes are back, fellas
I’ll tell you now and I’ll tell you surely, this dish is not what I would call ‘a looker’. But it is my hope that everyone who reads it makes this week’s 5-ingredient recipe: a Tomatillo Chicken Escalope which boasts an unfathomably good flavour to effort ratio. It’s not really surprising because it takes its inspiration from Mexican green salsas and then adds a thumped-til-tender chicken escalope to the equation. How can it not be yummy?
There are days in any given month when we might lose our cooking mojo. I don’t often want to eat a takeaway mainly because they’re expensive, but I also don’t want to spend hours cooking when everything is telling me I need to practice the thing I am worst at: relaxing. For days like these, I suggest today’s recipe.
In an age when food is photographed unto an inch of its life - mostly by me - the simpler, messier things are less likely to get the attention they deserve. But I have always believed that it’s what is on the inside that counts (flavour) more than how a dish scrubs up. There is no point sacrificing flavour for looks. This Tomatillo Chicken Escalope might be unspectacular on the eye, but when you put it in your mouth I think you’ll agree it is otherworldly. The sharp, savoury sauce and the tender chicken are just so good together.
It’s also very green, which is my favourite colour, so it has that going for it. Plus it will be ready in 20 minutes, is easy to remember and inexpensive to make.
You COULD carefully slice your chicken breasts in half if you are feeding 4 (you won’t need to cook them for as long). But I find the major pull of this recipe is the opportunity to bash the chicken breasts with a rolling pin like your life depends on it. This is always quite exciting to do, I think, especially when you imagine Jeremy Hunt is under the greaseproof paper.
Tomatillos can’t be bought at the supermarket, it’s true, but they can be bought online in tins which never go off, so I stock up on a few tins at time from Mexican Mama. Then I can have this meal (plus nachos, tacos, enchiladas, you name it…) up my sleeve for weeks to come. I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe whether your mojo is in need of a pep talk or not.
Tomatillo Chicken Escalopes
2 chicken breasts, skin on (or off if you prefer)
1/2 large tin of tomatillos
1 lime
2 big handfuls coriander
1 brown onion, cut into 6 wedges
A little flour for dredging (optional)
In a hot frying pan, add a drizzle of oil (any is fine) and add 4 of the 6 onion wedges. You want them to blacken and char so let them get properly coloured before turning them.
Take your chicken breasts and place them on a board under some greaseproof paper. Bash them with the flat side of a rolling pin until they’re flattened.
Now season about 2 handfuls of flour with salt on a plate and dredge your flattened chicken escalopes in the flour (if using). Add a couple of tbsp more oil to the hot pan and push the onions to one side. Place the chicken breasts in the pan, skin side down, one at a time. Allow to fry on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Open a window as the pan will be hot and the flour will create smoke.
Meanwhile, make your green tomatillo sauce by adding the drained tomatillos (you can rinse them if you prefer your sauce not to be too salty), then add the coriander, the remaining 2 quarters of onion and the juice of half a lime. Add a pinch of salt then blend together well until the sauce is really smooth.
Now, if the 5 minutes have passed, flip the escalopes and cook for another 6-7 minutes on the flesh side. You want to cook the chicken for at least 11 minutes in total. The upfacing skin side of the chicken should be a lovely golden colour now. After 3 minutes (of the remaining 6 or 7) pour the green sauce around the chicken in the pan and allow it to reduce and change colour. The colour will become less vibrant, but the flavour will become more vibrant.
Turn the pan off and allow the chicken to rest for at least a couple of minutes, this makes the texture even more soft and supple. To serve, remove the chicken escalopes on to plates then pour the onion pieces and green sauce around each chicken escalope so it is like a moat around the meat. Give the plate a gentle shake to even the sauce out. Serve with a few leaves of coriander and a wedge of lime and some crispy potatoes if you like (I cook mine in the air fryer for 15 minutes).
Top tip: If your cooker runs hotter on one side, turn the pan around after a couple of minutes, like I forgot to do BOTH times I cooked this recipe. Then you won’t end up with one very crispy chicken escalope and one regular chicken escalope. Can you tell I like the word escalope?
I hope you enjoy this recipe folks! You can find all my 5-Ingredient Recipes here now, in one place.
I’ll see you next week for the final, vegetarian instalment of 5-Ingredient Recipe Month…