How to Poach Chicken

First, remove the chicken from your neighbor's coop under the cover of darkness. Kill, pluck and chop into pieces.

Then, add the following things to a large pot of water: 1 onion in quarters, a bay leaf, about 2 tablespoons salt, pepper, 1 bunch thyme, 1 bunch parsley. Bring to a boil.

Add the cut up chicken (or just bone-in chicken breasts, that's good too), reduce heat and allow to simmer (not boil!) for about 30 minutes loosely covered or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the broth and debone. The leftover, strained broth can be used as chicken stock.

My thoughts:

Poaching is a great way to cook chicken to use recipes that call for shredded chicken or in cold salads. The chicken will be very moist and flavorful. Sometimes if I buy a large pack of chicken, I just go ahead and poach it. It is a great way to "cook once, eat twice", you will have cooked chicken on hand for quick meals throughout the week.