The One-Pan Hen Dinner That’ll Save Your Weeknights

As a recipe developer, I spend my days cooking, baking, and tasting. As a lot as I really like my job, I’m able to get out of the kitchen by six o’clock every day. This implies I typically depend on fast, easy, and, most significantly, reliable recipes for weeknight dinners. Sheet pan meals are a favourite, as they let the oven do a lot of the work and require just some minutes of prep.

Not too long ago, this simple hen dinner has been a lifesaver: Juicy hen thighs, crispy croutons, and tender, broiled asparagus are all cooked on a single baking sheet, then served over a mattress of hearty frisée. A candy, tangy salad dressing made with mustard, honey, vinegar, garlic, and oil serves double responsibility as a flavorful marinade, brushed on the hen partway by means of cooking for additional taste and a shiny end.

Get Extra From Your Sheet Pan

Whereas it is tempting to throw all the things on a sheet pan and hope for the perfect, there is a extra considerate method to take. As Critical Eats editorial director, Daniel, wrote in his 10 Important Guidelines for the Greatest Sheet Pan Dinners, “the act of orchestrating a extra advanced recipe on a single sheet pan requires a great deal of cooking instinct and method.” As a result of completely different meals prepare dinner at completely different charges, getting ready and assembling a scrumptious meal on a single sheet pan advantages from “a a lot larger diploma of coordination, area administration, and understanding of how completely different components prepare dinner.”

With a little bit of planning, you may have hen that is well-browned and juicy, croutons which might be toasted however not burned, and tender asparagus that is tender however not mushy. The bottom line is to prepare dinner the meal in two completely different phases: I bake the hen and croutons in a 450°F (230°C) oven till the bread is crisp and the hen is cooked, then I swap the croutons out for recent stalks of asparagus. The pan goes underneath the broiler, which gives simply sufficient warmth to brown the hen and prepare dinner the asparagus till it is candy and tender.

As a result of the most well liked areas of a sheet pan are across the edges, I prepare the hen across the perimeter of the pan. Likewise, inserting the cubed bread within the middle prevents it from browning too rapidly, although you will nonetheless have to flip the bread as soon as to encourage even cooking. The identical goes for the asparagus: Inserting it within the middle of the pan means it will not overcook or burn earlier than the hen is finished.

Getting the Hen Proper

Within the first part of cooking, the hen is cooked to a protected inner temperature (165°F/74°C), and the croutons turn out to be golden and toasty, a course of that takes roughly quarter-hour. The hen is technically cooked at this stage, however for optimum taste and browning, I flip the hen thighs, glaze them, then place them underneath the broiler to proceed cooking. As Critical Eats senior culinary editor Leah has famous, cooking your hen thighs to 185 to 195°F (85 to 90°C) is definitely “the important thing to peak tenderness.” The upper temperature breaks down collagen into gelatin, leading to tender, juicy meat.

Attain for Hardy Greens

Frisée is hardy and barely bitter, which permits it to face as much as the candy, punchy dressing and will not simply wilt underneath the warmth of the cooked hen. If you cannot discover frisée, you may substitute different greens; a mix of hearty chicories, resembling radicchio or endive, would work nicely. Although combined greens are much more delicate than frisée or radicchio, they will work in a pinch, however have in mind they’re much more delicate and more likely to wilt. To keep away from this, you may at all times place your hen to the facet of the salad, moderately than on high.

Schmaltzy Croutons, Please

After the hen and asparagus have been faraway from the sheet pan, I wish to briefly return the croutons to the pan and stir them round within the hen juices—which provides them a pleasant savory taste—earlier than placing them on high of the salad.

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