Since I started sharing these Get Toasted videos, people keep asking me how I began cooking using this method. The answer is simple…at home, we find it is the easiest way to prepare meals for our 5 year old son. Cooking a smaller amount of food in a toaster oven makes more sense than using the regular big oven. The first dish we ever made was this one for Chicken Tenders, which is really just a smaller version of classic roast chicken.
I use chicken tenders here because they are ready to go straight from the package – pre-trimmed and cleaned. You want to use the freshest chicken you can find, look for pinkish-beige colored flesh without any discoloration or dryness. “Chicken tenders” are the bird’s tenderloin, which comes from the underside of the breast. As the name suggests, this is a very tender cut, which requires little preparation and cooking time.
All the chicken really needs is a sprinkling of salt, pepper, herbs and a generous drizzle of a good quality olive oil, which will help keep the white meat extremely juicy. Herbes de provence is a very versatile seasoning; it can be used with vegetables, fish and meat. It’s amazing what happens with the herbs in such a short cooking. The olive oil and the juices released from the chicken become infused with intense herbal flavors, creating an amazing jus with very little effort.
To go with the chicken, I mix a very simple dipping sauce made of just two ingredients, Dijon mustard and honey stirred together to create an emulsion. Dijon is a style of mustard, which originated in France, made from ground brown or black mustard seeds, combined with wine, vinegar or verjus. It has a wonderful spicy flavor that goes extremely well with the sweet honey. It is a classic culinary pairing of hot and sweet that brings a surprisingly complex and spicy flavor to the chicken.
You can also prepare a nice salad to accompany the chicken. A gentle toss of arugula, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper is a quick and delicious way to elevate the dish and bring bright color to the plate.
Remember that cooking at home shouldn’t feel like work; it’s an act of creation – have fun, relax with a glass of wine and appreciate the simple pleasures of good ingredients.
Recipe: Herb Roasted Chicken Tenders
Serves 26-7 ounces chicken tenders
1 tablespoon olive oil
fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
½ teaspoon herbes de Provence
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
- Heat toaster oven to 450°. Drizzle half of the olive oil over the toaster oven tray.
- Season chicken with salt, pepper and herbes de Provence.
- Arrange the chicken in a single layer on the tray and drizzle the remaining olive oil over the seasoned chicken.
- Bake for 6-7 minutes, until tender.
- While the chicken is cooking, stir together the Dijon mustard and honey. Serve on the side.
eric ripert SAID...
Thank you to everyone for the wonderful feedback on the site. I will be cooking some of these recipes on the Today Show on Monday June 30, watch and check back each week for more videos.
Also, some great questions have been asked, which I would like to respond to.
About fish odor after cooking - if you start with a very fresh piece of fish, you should only smell a nice aroma from the cooking. Older fish tends to smell when you cook it because of the way it breaks down after it is exposed to the environment. Always try to buy the freshest fish you can find. I have heard that setting out a bowl of vinegar on the counter helps absorb odors, but I haven’t tried it.
About seasoning cabbage and vegetables - the seasoning technique should be similar but you can modify the cooking technique to bring out the best flavor. I like cabbage prepared very simply, by blanching it in some salted water to take away the astringency and then with just a little melted butter.
About the kitchen set - unfortunately, this beautiful kitchen is not my own. The videos were shot at the Poggenpohl showroom in NYC.
Regards,
Eric
EPIpark SAID...
Chef Ripert
Happy to see you on tv today! Thanks for the heads up. Looking forward to more and more videos.
steve_brown SAID...
Great to see you on the web and tv Chef Ripert. I also enjoyed your time on No Reservations. Hope you continue to teach us about cooking!
foodforthought SAID...
Thanks Chef Ripert. I’m going to have to go check out the Today Show episode now. This post is great because it’s so interesting to think about the chicken tender as just a scaled down version of a roast chicken. It instantly gives you other ideas, using ingredients like apples or lemons or garlic….
ILikePie SAID...
I hate turning on the oven in the summer since it turns my apartment into a furnace… I’m going to buy a toaster oven and try this out - seems like a great solution if you’re just cooking for one or two people.
ginaclean2day SAID...
now i can put those toaster ovens to use which we collect. Cooking for up to 50 on a regular basis is our passion. Thanks for thinking inside that chrome plugged in box!! We are not alone anymore
Max SAID...
I made this tonight (including the salad) and it was delicious–really simple, clean flavors throughout. I would never have thought I’d get such juicy and tender chicken from my toaster oven, but it was perfectly done. The dijon/honey mixture has made me swear off store-bought honey mustard for life!
Cuban Linx 7/3 « SAID...
[…] Eric Ripert Shows Us How To Make Chicken Tenders In The Toaster […]
lemonjelly SAID...
I made the chicken tenders this weekend. It came out great, I used wholegrain mustard instead of smooth for the dipping sauce.
Eight minutes, delicious. Well, more like eleven to me.
The GimpyGirls » Blog Archive » Get Toasted With Eric SAID...
[…] most everything Chef Eric cooks presumably could be made in any generic toaster oven, including his Herb Roasted Chicken Tenders, Tomatoes Provencal and Parmesan Zucchini with […]
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