Chicken Packages

We have been low-carbing at home, with some nice success. It's always hard trying to figure out what the heck to eat, though. The same-old same-old gets boring fast.


I'm going to copy an idea I used last Xmas when I made up some seasoned chix breasts as a gift for my dad. We vacuum sealed 6 breasts with 3 different seasoning blends. I figured it would be an easy way for him to cook a meal or two worth of meat at a time, with sodium-controlled seasoning. He really liked the gift.

Six Vac-sealed Seasoned Chix Breasts, originally uploaded by passitonplates.

I figured I'd like to show you what I'll be doing in case you want to try it too.

First, you need a vacuum sealer for food. We call this appliance a "Food Sucker." A Vac Sealer (or Food Sucker) sucks all the air out of food packages as they're sealed to prevent the food from getting freezer burn. We like to buy meat in bulk then separate the package into vac seal bags and freeze the meat in smaller portions.

My brother in law likes to vac seal marshmallows, fresh tomatoes, and raw potatoes. We don't recommend vac sealing soft or raw food. He will probably die of embarrassment if he reads this. While you can imagine what happened with the marshmallows and tomatoes, I won't tell you what happened with the potatoes.

...it smelled really bad...

Ok, so here are the basics for seasoning and sealing 3 different varieties of chicken breasts.

1. Set aside a plate or pie dish per seasoning blend (listed below)
2. Mix each set of seasoning blend ingredients into its own plate. The herbs and spices are listed below but you can decide how much seasoning you want to use. I like my seasoning on the heavy side, so I would mix up about 1 Tbs of seasoning per chicken side = 4 Tbs for 2 chicken breasts.
3. Dip each side of the raw chicken breast in your prepared seasoning blend.
4. Place the breast a vac seal bag, then seal it.
5. Freeze in a single layer in the freezer and use within 6 months.

Seasoning blends:

Garlic Ginger Chix, originally uploaded by passitonplates.

This is Garlic Ginger chicken.

Mix the following seasonings to taste:

• granulated onion
• smoked paprika
• black pepper
• granulated garlic
• fresh garlic, either to taste or to make it look pretty, like I did
• ginger
• cumin
  

Chicken Provencal, originally uploaded by passitonplates.

This is the Chix Provencal,

• oregano
• thyme
• rosemary
• tarragon
• parsely
• lavender
• cracked black peppercorns

This includes a slice of dried black truffle. (The orange arrow points to the truffle on one of the breasts.) I have a good friend who is a professional mycologist (mushroom hunter.) Every now and then we're lucky enough to get a few of the highly sought-after black truffles and Oregon white truffles. Just a sliver transforms a dish, and the little slice of black truffle on these chicken breasts will turn them into an amazing meal. If you want to try some truffles, visit his website at www.trufflezone.com Be sure to tell them Pam and Frank say Hi!

Enchilada Chicken, originally uploaded by passitonplates.

This one is Enchilada Chicken - everything I throw in the pan when I make Chix Enchiladas:

• oregano, crushed dried and ground
• granulated onion
• granulated garlic
• chili powder
• freshly cracked black pepper
• red pepper flakes
• lots of cumin
• after the chicken is in the bag but before sealing, add about a tsp of lime juice
• and dress up each breast with a bay leaf

When it's time to cook them, thaw the chicken, slide them out of the bag into a hot pan or baking dish, and cook until they have an internal temperature of 160F or until juices run clear.

Yummmmmm...