Quick Cooking Tips: Chicken and Grains

As I was making dinner last night, and it was not going the way I wanted it to, I drew a few conclusions for myself that I decided to share with you:
1) Always trust your gut (and the recipe timing) when cooking chicken. If the recipe says 45-60 minutes, I would lean toward the 60 minute mark to make sure the chicken cooks all the way. There is nothing more unappetizing than a bloody chicken..yuck. Besides, almost alway by looking at the chicken you can tell if it is ready or not. However there have been a few times where I was being inpatient and have taken the chicken out of the oven earlier than needed, simply because it “looked” cooked. A chicken needs at least one hour to cook (depending on the size, of course). But this is true for whether you are cooking a whole chicken, or parts. Also remember that the breast cooks faster than the rest of the chicken, so when testing the done-ness (not a word, I am sure) of the chicken with a thermometer, test the thighs preferably.
2) When cooking grains (rice, couscous, barley etc), always start with less water than more. For example, I boiled way too much water for the couscous so it ended up being a couscous soup, so to speak. Start with less water, and then you can add more if need be. Usually, for rice it’s a 2:1 ratio (2 cups of water 1 cup of rice). Still learning to navigate this though, so stay tuned!