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Easy pleasing chicken By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

Quick, convenient and creative one-skillet chicken recipes that are simple enough for weeknights and impressive enough for entertaining.

Photography by Yvonne Duivenvoorden

Canadians love chicken -- we eat an average of more than 66 pounds (30 kilograms) per person each year. That's a lot of chicken -- and a lot of cooks looking for delicious, new recipes.

One of the best ways to prepare chicken is in the skillet. Convenient, quick and using only one pan, chicken skillet dinners can add real pizzazz to your table. All are easy enough for family meals but delicious and impressive enough for entertaining. Made to serve six, these 8 dishes (below) also make versatile leftovers for lunch or supper.

How to cook chicken in a skillet
Start with a large (about 12-inch/30 cm) nonstick skillet; brown the chicken, drain off the fat and add the ingredients to flavour the chicken and make a sauce. We've kept the oil and butter to a minimum to give you great flavour with very little fat. If you don't have a large nonstick skillet, use cast iron or stainless steel; you may need to increase the oil to brown the chicken a little to prevent sticking. With these recipes, you'll see how easy it is to entice friends and family with our fantastic chicken skillet dinners.

What chicken to use
All these recipes call for 3 lb (1.5 kg) chicken pieces. Although it's a bit more expensive, air-chilled chicken has superior flavour and texture. Buy pieces already cut up, choosing dark meat (thighs or drumsticks) or white meat (breasts) or a combination. Or cut up a whole chicken yourself.

How to cut up a whole chicken
• With kitchen shears, cut along both sides of backbone and remove backbone (reserve for stock); cut through breast lengthwise.
• Cut each leg from breast along contour, separating breast and thigh.
• Pull each drumstick out of socket and cut at joint to separate. Cut each wing from breast; if desired, cut off wing tips. Cut breast in half crosswise.

With or without the skin?
Cook chicken skinless or keep the skin on if you prefer, but remember that up to 80 per cent of the fat in chicken comes from the skin, which tends to become flabby when braised. We have created all these delicious recipes using skinless chicken. To remove skin, grasp with kitchen cloth or paper towel and pull off, snipping at joints where necessary.