Honey Mustard Chicken Breast, with Pearl Onions and Broccoli 

Q: If the meat + sauce ended up being too salty, why not just season each component a little less? A: Sure, that could work, but I don't think there's any point in seasoning the meat. Whether you season the meat or the sauce, there will be salt on the surface (and ONLY on the surface) of the meat in the final dish, and I think it's easier to taste and make a judgment about seasoning if you just season the sauce. Plus it skips a step. Q: What if I brined or dry-brined the meat? A: That's an entirely different story. Brining or curing for sufficient time will pull water out of the meat via osmosis, which will then, if given time, be reabsorbed. In that case, the inside would be seasoned, not just the outside. If you want to do that, great. Brining (arguably) improves texture, too. Just remember to under-season the sauce. Q: Doesn't seasoning the outside of the meat develop "layers of flavor"? A: I challenge you to a taste test. We will make this dish two ways - one where we season the meat and the sauce, and one where we just season the sauce. We'll weigh the salt to make sure the total salt in both versions of the dish is identical. I will bet you real American dollars that you won't be able to tell the difference in the two versions. They will both have seasoning on the surface of the meat, and only on the surface of the meat. Your tongue can't tell the difference in how the seasoning got there. Q: Does this mean I should never season meat? A: Not at all. This argument is confined to this type of dish - one where every bite will be coated in sauce. My "season the board, not the steak" video is also an argument that is confined to that specific dish - steak with board dressing. Q: Why does every elite chef in the world disagree with you (just some guy in his kitchen with a camera) on this? A: They don't! There are many elite chefs who advocate seasoning at the end of cooking whenever possible, including MPW. That said, there are many who believe in that "layers of flavor" crap. There are many very accomplished chefs who could kick my ass in the kitchen who nonetheless believe some pretty spurious chef dogma that's been passed down to them. As I said in an earlier video, experienced practitioners tend to know what works - they tend to have less of a handle on WHY it works. Q: Why not season the meat, season the sauce, then return the meat to the pan, stir it around, taste again, and then add any additional salt if needed? A: That seems like more work to me, and wouldn't serve any purpose. Also, trying to dissolve more salt evenly into the pan would be a lot harder with four big pieces of chicken sloshing around in the pan. Q: If I don't season the meat, and only season the sauce until it's perfect, won't it be a little under-seasoned by the time it's diluted by the chicken? A: Yeah, I wish I'd been a little clearer about that. I would advocate seasoning this sauce until it's a hair too salty. This is a basic plank of sauce-making, I think. Sauces should always be a little too strong in every respect - too sweet, too salty, too acidic, etc - because they're going to be diluted by the rest of the food. But I don't think it matters much in this case, because the chicken pieces are so thin. If the sauce tastes pretty good to you, I think the final dish is gonna taste pretty good to you. Over-seasoning the sauce is more important when you're saucing really big chunks of things. Q: Doesn't salting the surface of the meat enhance browning? A: I have never seen persuasive evidence to back up that claim. If you have some, I'd love to see it. Truly. Q: But I've been seasoning both the meat and the sauce my entire life and my food is great. What gives? A: I don't doubt your food is great. But I think one reason why it's great is that, consciously or not, you've developed the ability to compensate for the problem I'm discussing. This video is aimed at novices, and I think only seasoning the sauce is a safer, easier option for novices. Q: Why not dredge the chicken pieces in flour? Wouldn't that enhance browning and provide thickening without the use of a slurry? A: That's a classic technique for a reason. It works. But I still don't really like it. I think when the floured surface of the meat dissolves in the sauce, the resulting texture is slimy. But lots of people love it. I recently featured a recipe by my friend Ben Harrison (beer chicken stew) where he floured his chicken, people have been loving that recipe. You do you. Q: Can I use some oil other than olive oil? A: Certainly. I just like olive oil.

"I prefer to manage my imperfections rather than to hide them" true words to live by

Pearl onions in a white cream sauce takes me back to holiday meals at my grandmothers house in the late 50s early 60s. I love that dish.

*intense breathing after Adam says “control yourself gentlemen”*

Adam: Sponsored by S- Me: -quarespace? Adam: -killshare. Me: Yep, he’s with the Empire

I mean you are, after all, the boss of your honey mustard pan sauce.

I’m worried about Adam, he hasn’t used white wine in a while.

I actually prefer to season my chicken before eating my cutting board

You're gonna hate me but 1:33 that's not a horizontal axis, that's a horizontal plane. _I tried to control myself, I really did_

I've been meaning to make this since it got posted and finally made it tonight... IT IS SO FREAKING GOOD. My wife and I decided that it's officially making it into our regular rotation. We did it with thighs instead of breasts since that's what we had and cooked thin asparagus in the sauce instead of broccoli on the side. Highly recommend if you haven't made it yet.

“it goes ballistic, in the literal sense of the word.” lol.

This man ruined his meal to prove a point. I love it

"summon forth the upside down bear" should be merch lmao

Hey adam instead of a meme I'd like to thank you for being one of the best cooking channels on youtube.

There's another thing that gets overlooked alot nowadays, especially on cooking channels. Salt and pepper shakers exist. My father was a chef, and purposely undersalted our meals, because my mother hated salty food, and then dad and I would just salt things tableside. A lot of home cooks take it as an insult when people do this, and it's just allowing for differences in palates.

When Adam said “dont do this and I’ll show you why” you know he is serious

i didn't know what a pearl onion was before this, they look so cute and tiny and yummy

You are the Chef John, of your cayenne add on.

Hiya I’m 15 and have been watching your videos for a good bit and binge them every now and then. I wanted to cook one of your recipes for dinner and chose this recipe to cook for my family. Of course I had some mistakes but they were able to be fixed with the help of my dad (too much vinegar). They really enjoyed it! I actually thought it was really good too especially for my first try at cooking something this important/big. Thank you so much Adam Ragusea! I thoroughly enjoyed doing it all and i’m interested in pursuing cooking more. I appreciate you being so easy to follow and down to earth/relatable(home cooking). I’ll have to try the NY pizza one next! :D

“But I shall never be perfect, so I prefer to manage my imperfections rather than deny them” might just become my senior quote

I always season my chicken the night before and let it sort of marinade. I never have a problem with my sauces being too salty. The thing is everyone cooks differently and you just gotta do what works for you :)

"Control yourselves, gentlemen" Don't worry, Adam. I've been abstinent since October

"don't freak out, that's the chicken's blood, not mine" *PETA has entered the chat*

You’re staunch “unorthodoxy” has helped me a lot in learning how to become a better cook

7:22 - "There's no point in seasoning the meat with a dish like this." I respectfully disagree based on information from "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" and being reasonably practiced myself. "When an unseasoned protein is heated, it denatures: the coil unravels, releasing water molecules out of the protein matrix, leaving the meat dry and tough if overcooked. By disrupting protein structure, salt prevents the coil from densely coagulating, or clumping, when heated, so more of the water molecules remain bound. The piece of meat remains moister, and you have a greater margin of error for overcooking. " - Nosrat, Samin. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking The quote refers to a preseasoned piece of meat where salt has had time to travel through protein. So for the same reason that you had mentioned why one should salt the meat, "it's easier to control seasoning", I could make the same argument that it's easier to control overcooking the meat. Personally, I think overcooking is a better problem to solve. Sauces can be adjusted, overcooked protein cannot. For example, add the chicken with the sauce and then taste and season as you see fit. Or once it's already on the plate, add lemon juice for contrast, or thin it out with a couple drops of water to reduce the saltiness. There are numerous ways to adjust a sauce's seasoning. At the end of the day, we should all do what works best in our kitchen. For me, I'm seasoning my protein ahead of time.

I think part of the over salting also comes down to how thin the split chicken breasts are. It’s really easy to over salt meat with so much surface area over volume. I’ve definitely made that mistake before

Adam Ragusea: "Why I don't season my chicken" The internet: "Wait, that's illegal"

"Control yourself in the comments down there, gentlemen" *intense battle music continues* Also please do a video on wraps, thanks :)

4:25 “I will never be perfect. So, I prefer to manage my imperfections than to deny them.” Wow 👏

Finally got around to making this recipe! Used regular onions because we couldn’t get pearl, but fantastic regardless. Sauce was a bit too thin because we didn’t reduce it enough, but it still tasted great! (Also learned that my mom has about the same acidity tolerance as Adam)

I loooove pearl onions!!! Haven’t had an excuse to cook with them in years. Now, I do! My wife thinks Honey Mustard is a gift from the gods so she’d love this dish.

" I'm not perfect I'd rather manage my imperfections rather than deny them" - Adam Ragusea 2019 If this did not hit I don't know what will

Adam I love how you guide us through your videos, teaching us to cook while you always find a fluent method to introduce your video sponsor, I can t even get annoyed for the ad. Instead you just get an smile out of me. Thx for your dedication, your channel and you are amazing.

When he admitted that the dish ended up salty, i subscribed.

I have never cooked a day in my life but when ever he posts a video I watch it immediately

"shake of cayenne for Chef John" I love when worlds collide :D Hi Chef John!

*"summon forth the upside bear"* that made me laugh

Adam, your videography skills have improved dramatically from where they were at the outset of your channel. They weren't bad back then, but there has been a noticeable improvement. It helps that the content itself is outstanding. I'm a senior in college who loves to cook, so the frugality and simplicity commonplace in your cooking goes well-appreciated. I've made so many of your recipes to date; they're always crowd pleasers... I've also taken the credit more times than I'd like to admit. Take care, and keep up the good work.

100% genuinely thought this episode was gonna just be you making a HelloFresh box or something based on the weirdly disparate ingredients in the title

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this video four times, but I keep coming back because I love the way you reason through things. I know the recipe by heart at this point but idc I support it whole heartedly.

1:35 “cut it in half” Ok done! “Horizontally” Ok I need a new chicken breast now

Hello Adam. Idk if u will ever ser this comment but doesn't matter. Im a 17 yo from Portugal and I've always found cooking very interesting. Lately I've been watching chef RU-vidrs such as Joshua Weissman, Binging with Babish and yourself. Today I did this recipe and it turned great. I am leaving this comment just to thank you for the recipes. Most are easy and have helped me get on the world of cooking. Thank you and a big hug from Portugal 🇵🇹

When I was this fast Adam didn't use white wine

My mom always bought Pearl onions in a can. She used them in English pea salad, one of my favorite dishes.

I'd love to just sit down and have a coffee with Adam, seems like a guy I'd go well with

I made this tonight and it was delicious. Thanks for the video! I’ve always thought pearl onions were adorable, and they’re as tasty as they are cute.

I have never seen someone cut a half chiken breast to 1/4 chiken breast perfectly! This guy is madlad

“Then it goes ballistic, in a literal sense.”

I really like that you show your mistakes and teach from them. Nice video!

Just made this, only that I used rice flour and toasted my sesame. It was an absolute delight. For next time, I will need to remember to trust myself and not use as much rice slurry and let the sauce gelatinize gradually. Thanks for the recipe, Adam.

I'm making this tonight, but with Thighs instead of breast. What I love about your videos Adam, is that you're kind of like binging with Babish, except your recipes are far more accessible and family friendly. He's obviously a single bachelor, while you're a dad, which forces you to keep it a bit simpler. Thanks!

I've been a fan for a while now, love your cooking tips and dishes! Here's the one thing I don't understand though.. The seasoning. Basically, you explain that seasoning the meat/poultry will result in the final dish being over-seasoned in the end. As you said, the seasoniong in the sauce (in these kind of sauce-based dish) is much easier to control and the meat/poultry will be drenched in it anyway. And so, why not season both accordingly by "under-seasoning" the sauce, for example, and *after* adding the seasoned chicken (What I think is that as the pan cooks the chicken, it also roasts the seasoning on it, just as you would want to roast other spices like for Indian food!) to the sauce , taste the whole to check for any more seasoning? Basically you get the extra kick from roasting the seasoning on the chicken in the beginning AND a perfectly seasoned final dish with the sauce.

That segue to the ad read was the smoothest thing in the video, even smoother than the pearl onions and the sauce they were cooked in.

4:50 I like how that onion jumped

I never knew that you could buy pearl onions unpeeled. Until this video I've never seen them unpeeled and raw.

Last time I was so early there were no memes

"I choose to manage my imperfections instead of denying them," is such a hard ass line

Y'all arguing about seasoning while I'm thinking whether I should use caramelized yellow onions instead of pearl onions

pearl onions are hella underrated and should be used in roast dinners more often

2:49 who else heard him singing lol

When I make something like this I just don't fully season the pan sauce before the chicken goes back into the pan- in fact, usually not at all because it'll get salt from the pan, from stock, from condiments, etc. I can always add a little salt at the end if needed. But I also season the chicken in the morning, hours before I cook it. It's definitely a good idea to just skip seasoning the meat if you would otherwise season it right before cooking. It'll just make it more difficult to get a nice sear because it'll immediately begin pulling moisture to the surface of the meat

Tasty! I'll be sure and keep ABREAST of your new videos!

I always season the chicken I wait to season the sauce after I’ve had the protein in it a minute to see if it’s in there... I don’t think ones wrong or right I think it’s preference

5:03 "this is Dijon but anything is fine." Prepared mustard Adam? Dijon only my guy.

Cook all the way through without flipping gives you the best of both worlds

"This video is sponsored by Skillshare. More on them later." As if I haven't heard enough about them from Adam alone.

Whilst i enjoy watching and learning how and what you cook, your sense of sarcastic humor, is compelling.

I'm 28 and literally never heard of pearl onions before

I agree with you about NOT Always “seasoning” foods with salt and pepper. I breathe a sigh of relief and am glad to see someone cooking with your culinary approach. Thank you.

you should get a splatter screen its made my kitchen life way easier

Just made this but made some changes. Same basic technique, Cut some red onion into chunks and used that in place of the pearls. Used yellow mustard and it tasted amazing! Like the honey mustard dipping sauce at many fast food restaurants

I’ve seen sauces like this made with flouring the chicken beforehand, and browning it with the flour. This way you naturally get starch built into the fond. Plus you cook the flour when you brown the chicken, so you don’t have to worry about the “raw flour taste”. Thoughts/concerns?

Love to see the Pearl onions bouncing around at 4:49

Hey Adam great vid, I live in France and broth is for the most part unavailable and the bouillon cubes are somewhat lackluster, any alternatives without having to boil a carcass? I get it's a pretty unrealistic ask, but you could potentially make a video delving into broths and alternatives?

"I prefer to manage my imperfections rather to deny them" that's a good line

When I’m cooking something I always want to season the food throughout the cooking process, making a well balanced season food! Love your videos and recipes ❤️

This is why I love this channel. The home cooking element allows new and old cooks to make exteavegant and beutyfull dishes

I find it odd that in Macon you can buy fresh pearl onions but not hunks of low moisture mozzarella

This video would be perfect for a honey sponsorship

5:57 jump scare warning

I made a variation on this with Tarragon and white wine (instead of vinegar). I also put the rice and water in there to soak in the sauce. I've made variations on this before and it always turns out delicious.

"But i shall never be perfect, so I prefer to manage my imperfections rather than deny them"

We in Amsterdam have Pearle onions as well but we call them amsterdam onions. They come in a sweet brining liquid and if you cook that liquid down with the onions still in it they become amazingly sweet flavour bombs so I would recommend that a lot. Nice for on salads or any cold food that could use some sweetness (comparable to pomegranates on sweetness)actually.

"Why I season my viewers not my chicken. They salty breh." ~ Mama Ragusea circa 1962

He probably is the only person to make a ad and the food actually turning out the same.

"Why I season my pan sauce, NOT my full breast."

I'm a confident cook (a trained chef even) and I'm watching and loving how you do videos and cooking in general

Salted Orthodoxy is the name of my guild now

When he lifted the steamer with the fork... This man is a genius.

"This is why I summon the upside down bear instead of a demon."

Every time you cut broccoli I can hear Dana covey in my head singing Chopin broccoli Chopin broccoli

The seasoning problem made me pretty salty, not gonna lie.

"I shall never be perfect, so I prefer to manage my imperfections rather than deny them" My man Adam is a true inspiring poet :')

The god of RU-vid cooking: Food wishes Kings of RU-vid cooking: Binging with Babish Adam Ragusea Joshua Weissman

That makes total sense. I’ve made lots of great sauces that I was excited about and then bite into the finished product and instantly disappointed. Great tip

The level of petty I could only dream of achieving is Adam intentionally oversalting HIS OWN MEAL, that none of the viewers would be able to taste. He made his own food, that he cannot in any way prove the taste of, marginally less delicious just to spite a couple of culinary snobs. Love it

Trying this recipe tonight. Wish me luck

Dear diary: Today, Adam was a pretty cool guy.

i started watching adam's videos in about 100k,since then ive been falling in love wiht the style and the way that he creates he's videos,it is truely something that everyone can take note on.

I like to marinate my chicken in a little oil, salt and whatever additional seasonings I need to achieve a certain "theme" for my meal. (e.g. Mexican --> Cumin, Sweet Paprika, etc.) I do this because (believe it or not) I find the oil significantly reduces splattering, and the chicken comes out moist, tender and flavorful. Recently tried to make a pan sauce with the same marinated chicken. The chicken was perfect, but the sauce was too salty and little over-seasoned in general. I'll have to try again with a weaker marinade (maybe just oil and citrus), and see if that gives me more control over the finished product.