Balsamic Vinegar Chicken Problem

[Cory]

I've made this recipe twice, and I love it. However, both times I had a problem with the cheese breading sticking to the pan when I flip the chicken over. Has anyone else had the same problem? What can I do to prevent this from happening in the future? Thanks!

[jenniferharris1]

Hi, Cory
I think the trick to this is getting the pan hot enough before you add the chicken, and letting it cook a while before turning. I've had my meats lose their breading before, and it's very frustrating...it affects how it looks on the plate. It is a good recipe, though, isn't it?

[Cathy]

I saw on the food channel to make sure the pan is hot enough & then add a little olive oil. Lay the meat in the pan & do not touch the it until the crust has formed. Don't shake the pan or cause the meat to budge in anyway until you get that crust. Then you should be able to turn the meat without it sticking. LOL

[CarolC]

Glad to see that I wasn't the only one with that problem. But loved the recipe anyway. Next time I'll try getting the pan hotter first to see if that works. Thanks for the suggestion

[Corrine]

Enjoyed the chicken recipe but it stuck so badly I'm still trying to remove from non-stick pan - any suggestions for removal?

[shortcook]

I have found that if you put the food in the pan the same time as the oil and then turn it on medium heat, it does not stick. that's my Grandmothers old trick.

[LynnSC]

I have made this recipe twice and have had no trouble with it sticking. I use a nonstick pan and heat the olive oil before adding the chicken. I don't let it get too hot though. I had to use a smaller pan last night since I am at my in law's house and they didn't have a bigger one. I probably ended up using more Olive oil than if I had a bigger pan that all the pieces could fit in at once. I hope this helps. This is quickly becoming a household favorite!
Lynn

[Cory]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I have been pre-heating the pan, but maybe I wasn't getting it hot enough. I'll find out the next time I try the recipe.

[laden]

Maybe your nonstick pan is old?

I have several (one of which is about 20 years old) it still works fine for most dishes but I've noticed when I cook eggs they now stick and they don't in my newer pans.

[Beth]

Corrine, to get the old gunk out, try covering the bottom or where ever the stuff is stuck with water and putting it on the stove. Bring up to a boil and let it sit hot for a while. I have also tried putting a llittle baking soda in the water. This works on non-coated pans (only thing that gets a bad popcorn burn off the bottom of my pans), but I can't see that it would hurt a coated one. Also, if you have a sticky, cooked oil residue, and Dawn doesn't break it up, try GooGone. Available in Target, houseware stores and many grocery or hardware stores. It breaks down all kinds of oily and sticky stuff. Hope one of these helps.

[NancyR]

This might sound frivolous to some but I really believe that you deserve to buy a new non-stick pan when your old one gets bad. You have your health at stake here which is very important. The new ones are very inexpensive and you can still put the old one in a goodwill bag.

[Beth]

If the pan is really shot, it should be discarded or recycled. If not, try to save it, but don't give a person shopping at Goodwill a health risk you wouldn't assume yourself.

[NancyR]

There is no way on earth I would donate a pan to Goodwill or anybody else that I would consider a "health risk". What I am saying it that a pan that has lost it's non-stick capability will just be taking up cabinet space once I purchase a new nifty good one. Someone shopping in a Goodwill store might want a bargain pan to use around a campfire or heat up leftovers.

[Beth]

Didn't want to offend, but I didn't want anyone to misunderstand either.

[Mhami]

I actually have a different problem that I encountered while making this recipe. BTW, I still thought it was great would definitely make again. My problem is that my breading browned to fast. It almost looked as if it were burnt. Then, after I cooked the chicken for the recommended time (3 min per side) it was still slightly pink inside and I had to cook longer. We have a gas stove and sometimes it is hard for me to judge stove temperatures, but do you think maybe medium-high was too hot? Should I have cooked it on medium for a longer time period?

Marianne

[karen w]

I made this dish, and did not have any problems with sticking or burning crust. It really was tasty, and worth trying again for those who encountered the sticking problem. I think you could probably cut the amount of peppers down and include some onion, but I think the dish would be missing something if you eliminated them completely. Have you ever tried Italian frying peppers. My husband loves peppers of any color except the green ones(too strong for him). I sometimes use Italian frying peppers in place of green ones. They are milder tasting.Good luck.

[BarbaraL]

I haven't made this dish yet, but had a similar problem with a recipe from last year. You coated boned chicken breasts with honey, then dipped them in a mixture of corn flakes and chopped pistachios, then cooked in a frying pan, and served over baby greens. Delicious, but the coating stuck like mad! I also had the problem stated above; the crust was getting burned but the chicken wasn't done. I started precooking the chicken, then adding the coating and continuing to cook. I'll try the suggestions mentioned above. . . thanks!

[Cory]

Barbara, I had the same problem with the honey and pistachio recipe. It tasted great, but that one stuck as well.

[bogglefan]

Does anyone who has made this dish have any thoughts on how well it would fare if I replaced the peppers with onion or something similar? The dish looks really good but I don't like bell peppers and am not sure if it would work without them. A lot of dishes you can take them out with no problem but I am not sure about this one.

[laden]

I finally tried the recipe last night...
Loved It!

Anyway, I had no problem with it sticking. Since I had heard all the problems I tried spraying Pam on the uncooked side right before turning it. Don't know if this was the key or not but it seemed to work for me.

[debj]

I made this recipe with a non-stick grill pan from All-Clad. The bottom of this pan is ridged and it works great. Leaves pretty little grill marks on your food but still browns nicely. The balsamic chicken is terrific - don't give up!!

[bogglefan]

KarenW, thanks for the suggestion about the milder tasting italian frying peppers, I have never tried them. Are they in the produce section of the grocery store or are they in cans or jars? I am not sure where to look for them having never used them before. Thanks again.