Poached Chicken

I finally poached chicken that didn't suck! Yay me! I'm sure this is a basic thing to the rest of the world, but I actually gave up on thinking it was a super easy thing and sought advice from the interwebs. Ahh, enlightenment. (Hint - if you're like me, you should know that boiling does not equal poaching. What took me so long to figure this out?) I generally poach chicken that I either am going to use in chicken salad or I'm going to use in soup, but am not ready to use at the moment the chicken needs to be cooked. This chicken cooked here turned into a lovely chicken salad and some chicken and veggies that will be posted later. I understand some people just eat poached chicken because it's low fat. Plain chicken isn't my thing, but hey, to each his own.


Poached Chicken
Enough water to cover your chicken
1/4 onion, cut in large chunks
3 cloves garlic, smashed
salt
5-6 peppercorns

1 package chicken breast

Add onion, garlic, salt, and peppercorns to water and bring to a boil. Add chicken breast. Return to boil then reduce to barely a simmer. Cook for approximately 15 minutes (dependent on how thick your chicken breast is - mine was a big hunker). Turn off heat and let chicken stay in water for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from water and let rest before cutting.