1 Adjust an oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 350°F Season the chicken generously with salt (omit the salt if using brined chicken) and pepper Heat the oil in a 12-inch heavy-bottomed stainless steel skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat until wisps of smoke appear Swirl the oil to coat the pan, then remove from the heat and carefully add the chicken, skin side down Return to the heat and cook, without moving the chicken, until the skin is a deep golden brown, about minutes Flip the chicken and continue to cook until the second side is lightly golden, about 3 minutes Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast until the thickest part of the chicken breast registers 150°F on an instantread thermometer and the thighs and drumsticks register 175°F (remove the pieces to a plate as they reach their temperature and cover loosely with aluminum foil) If desired, make a pan sauce (see here–here) while the chicken rests for 10 minutes Serve QUICK CHICKEN CUTLETS There are times in life—say, fifteen minutes before that Mr Wizard marathon is about to start—when even simple panroasted chicken parts take too long to cook At these moments, wise home cooks call on that great savior of the quick dinner: chicken cutlets Made by splitting a boneless chicken breast horizontally in half and gently pounding the resulting pieces to a thickness of about ¼ inch, they cook in less time than it takes to boil an egg Once you’ve prepped the chicken, you’ve got all of 3 minutes before it’s ready to eat, 10 minutes if you want to add a pan sauce (I would) Most supermarkets carry cutlets, but you can make your own starting with whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts; see “How to Prepare Chicken Cutlets,” here Because of the cutlets’ thinness, you’ve got to use very high heat when cooking them lest they overcook before they have a chance to brown and build up flavor I like to dredge my cutlets in a little bit of flour before adding them to the skillet The thin coat of flour browns more efficiently than plain chicken does, giving you color more quickly while offering some amount of protection to the meat My initial thought when cooking chicken cutlets was that both sides should be cooked for about the same amount of time—after all, I wanted even browning, right? But after trying this method over and over, I found that it simply wasn’t possible to brown both sides without really overcooking the meat So, why not just brown one side extra well? It worked like a charm I placed the cutlets in a skillet with hot oil and cooked them without moving until the first side was well browned At this stage, the cutlets were already almost cooked through All they needed was a quick kiss of the flame on the second side—about 30 seconds’ worth—and they were finished, ready to rest and serve ... heat when cooking them lest they overcook before they have a chance to brown and build up flavor I like to dredge my cutlets in a little bit of flour before adding them to the skillet The thin... well browned At this stage, the cutlets were already almost cooked through All they needed was a quick kiss of the flame on the second side—about 30 seconds’ worth—and they were finished, ready... really overcooking the meat So, why not just brown one side extra well? It worked like a charm I placed the cutlets in a skillet with hot oil and cooked them without moving until the first side