Several years ago, I made chicken tea sandwiches for a large Christmas tea. One of the husbands came up to me and inquired about my recipe for the sandwiches. “Harry, I used your wife’s recipe,” I said. “But her sandwiches don’t taste like this!” he said brandishing one of the tea sandwiches. So he got me thinking. What did I do differently that made such a difference in taste? The key is in how I cooked the chicken. Here’s is my “secret.” -E

Lemon-Bay Poached Chicken Breast

Ingredients:
2-4 split chicken breasts, bone in, skin on.
several quarts water
1 lemon halved
2 bay leaves
3 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
1/4 cup Kosher salt

Directions:
1. In a 6-quart stockpot, add all ingredients. Make sure you have added enough water to generously cover the chicken breasts. Bring chicken to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer (covered) for 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
2. Let chicken cool in the poaching liquid. You may skin and debone as soon as chicken is cool enough to touch, or if you have extra time and space, place the whole pot in the refrigerator until ready to use–up to two days.

Notes:
I find that leaving the chicken in the poaching liquid until ready to use makes for meat that stays moist.

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