This week’s chicken and warm tomato salad dish requires the use of a meat pounder. Now, a meat pounder might not be something you have laying around the house, but it’s worth buying. Not long ago were the days of using makeshift pounders myself. First came the marble pestle that left things a tad lumpy. Next came the wine bottle bottom, which was unwieldy and worrisome. I made do with these, and other haphazard methods, until the day finally came when a Pampered Chef magazine fell into my hands and I immediately zeroed in on the shiny, lethal-looking meat pounder that doubles as a tenderizer (can you say, sold!). It has been a worthwhile purchase and gone are days of awkwardly trying to smash meat into submission. Once meat is pounded to a certain thickness the cooking time is reduced and as a result, there’s less chance of drying out the meat. If there’s one thing that’s difficult to overlook in a dish, it’s dryness. Chicken that turns to sawdust in your mouth? No, thank you.
