Poaching is the culinary term for cooking food by simmering it in a liquid. Think of poaching an egg—you are submerging a cracked egg in water and the warm liquid is cooking the egg from all angles. But eggs aren’t the only things you can poach: many of your favorite proteins can be submerged in wine, water, oil you name it and slowly cooked over low heat for tender and moist results.  The great thing about poaching lets say a fish fillet or in this case, chicken breasts, is that whatever you poach the protein in it is slowly absorbing the flavor of that cooking liquid.

This chicken is submerged in creamy, low-fat buttermilk that is studded with garlic and sage.  The chicken is cooked over low heat in the liquid until tender and cooked through; all the while, absorbing the flavors of the buttermilk which also imparts tenderness to the meat.  Poaching is  a healthy cooking method that you should experiment with; this specific chicken can be sliced, chilled and used in your favorite compound chicken salad—or as in this case, sliced and served along a healthy salad made from sliced almonds, radishes, escarole and radicchio.  Healthy and certainly delicious!

(To view this recipe, click on the following link: http://www.marthastewart.com/1047293/chicken-breast-poached-buttermilk)

Tagged: buttermilk, buttermilk-poached chicken, capers, chicken, chicken breasts, Clean Slate: A Cookbook & Guide, cornichons, escarole, low-fat buttermilk, Martha Stewart Living, poached chicken, radicchio, radishes, Salad, yogurt