Tag: grilled chicken

By Posted on Posted in Grilled Goodness, Recipes, Reviews, What's for dinner 1 Comment

I came into this with high hopes.  I have been infatuated with how tasty it looked.  I kept counting down the days until Wednesday to give it a try.  I found this recipe last week for Grilled Mexican Roadside Chicken, and it looks delicious and sounded interesting.  So I whipped it up today per the recipe, but in lieu of a whole chicken used several drumsticks I had in the freezer, same concept.

Grilled Roadside Mexican Chicken

And I have to say it was not bad chicken, but it wasn’t chicken that left me wanting more either.  It let me down.  It was juicy, but I attribute that more to technique than the recipe.   I had high hopes for it and it just fell short, flat on its face at my feet, I was disappointed but when piled onto of a salad with some taco-ranch dressing it was almost just like any other chicken, but perhaps with just a hair more Mexican flavor and eaten that way it was quite alright.  So here is a copy of the recipe should you wish to try it.  I did use half the amount of cinnamon because that was all I had around.

Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp ground ancho chile pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
pinch of ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 garlic cloves pressed
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 c fresh orange juice
1 tsp Kosher salt
chicken (parts or a whole)

Instructions
If using a charcoal grill, get some charcoal going in a chimney (I used half a chimney full).  Mix all ingredients except chicken together in a bowl to create a wet rub.  Once the charcoal is ready place all of the coals on one side of the grill to set up a cool zone and a hot zone.  Place the chicken on the cool side of the grill, brush healthily with the wet rub.  Turn chicken and brush the other side with the wet rub.  Cover the grill and cook until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads 165°F; basting with any remaining rub throughout the cooking period.  Remove chicken from grill and allow to rest for a while 5-10 minutes for parts or 10 to 15 minutes for a whole chicken.

The original recipe called for green onions to be grilled once the chicken was done, maybe this is where I went astray.  It also called for a whole chicken and not for parts, maybe that was the problem.  Either way it wasn’t bad, but like I said it let me down, it wasn’t all I had hoped for and the process of making the rub filled my kitchen with a heavenly familiar aroma of Jerk Chicken and made me think, why am I not making Jerk Chicken?  Well I may just have to do that soon.

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By Posted on Posted in Grilled Goodness, Recipes No Comments

Chicken.  Blah.  Ok, maybe I should say we eat more chicken than we rightfully should, I mean we should have way more pork and beef in there somewhere, but chicken it more often times than not is.  So with that we try to spice it up and give some flavor to the unflavorable, so today (actually last night) I set out to make a balsamic glazed grilled chicken.

Balsamic Glazed Grilled Chicken

And I must admit it was rather tasty, albeit quite sweet, which for some reason I was not expecting.  Once I got past the sweet and onto the rest of the chicken it was as I said rather tasty, very tender and juicy; which is always better than dry chicken.

In hindsight I should have cooked my stuffing a little bit before shoving it in the bird.  The breasts and thighs of the bird were ready about 20 minutes before the stuffing reached a safe temperature, which much to my surprise did not dry out the meat or give it even the slightest burnt taste.

I grilled the bird on my Weber kettle over charcoal for about an hour and twenty minutes, the bird was just shy of 4 pounds.  I replenished the charcoal once at about 45 minutes with six fresh briquettes on each side and a handful of apple chips.  Once the breasts were about done I glazed the bird liberally and let it finish out its cooking, which because of the stuffing was longer than anticipated when I applied the glaze.  But it didn’t seem to burn.

Ingredients
1 chicken (or parts if you don’t wanna mess with a whole bird), about 4 pounds
1 medium onion
1 stalk celery
1 clove garlic
1/2 c ketchup
1/4 c balsamic vinegar + extra
6 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper + extra
a few stalks of rosemary

Instructions
To make a rub combine 2 tbsp brown sugar with paprika, chili powder, cumin, lime juice, oil salt and pepper.  Mix well and rub all over chicken making sure to get plenty under the skin.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

On cooking day remove chicken from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.  Chop up onions into large pieces, chop celery, rosemary and garlic and combine in a bowl with pepper to taste.  Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and stuff in bird (if I were to listen to my advice I would likely bake the stuffing at this point prior to stuffing the bird for say 20 minutes in the over).

Prepare the grill for indirect cooking, clean and lube the grate and toss the bird on the grill. Once the chicken is on the grill prepare the glaze by combining ketchup, vinegar, 4 tbsp brown sugar and oregano.

Once chicken is nearly done brush chicken liberally with glaze mixture.  Cook until internal temperature of chicken breasts and thighs is 167°F and stuffing is 165°F.  Once pulled allow chicken to stand for 15 minutes before slicing.  Enjoy

Without the glaze I dare say the chicken would have been quite south western but with the glaze it was sweet and magical.  Now if I can just figure out what to do with the left overs.

 

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By Posted on Posted in Grilled Goodness, Recipes 2 Comments

For some reason on the way home from work today I had an urge for some pineapple glazed grilled chicken, which was strange because I have never had pineapple glazed grilled chicken in my life.   Now I have had grilled pineapple, which I like and grilled chicken, which without variety is boring.  So I gave it a whirl and came out on the other side with a sweet, tasty and relatively quick recipe, I am going to be holding onto.

Pineapple Glazed Grilled Chicken and Pineapple on the grill

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
1 can of pineapple slices
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp ground dried ginger
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp brown sugar
1-2 tbsp corn starch

Instructions
Start by draining pineapple and reserving juice.  Combine juice, mustard, ginger, curry powder, cayenne, honey and brown sugar in a small pot and heat over medium to a boil, stirring constantly.  Slowly add in cornstarch until it thickens to a maple syrup consistency.  Remove from heat and set aside.  Get the grill ready, when it is at a medium/medium high temperature lube the grate with vegetable oil and start grilling the chicken.  When the chicken is about 5 minutes from done (use your own judgment), add pineapple to grill and brush with glaze.  Then brush chicken with a generous amount of glaze on both sides.  Flip pineapple and brush the other side with glaze.  Use the remaining glaze on the chicken remove both chicken and pineapple when done.  Eat chicken piled high with pineapple.

I ate mine with a healthy portion of spinach salad with mandarin oranges, grilled pineapple, bacon and raspberry vinaigrette.

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By Posted on Posted in Grilled Goodness, Recipes, Reviews No Comments

Tonight we marched onward with the chicken and with such nice weather it would have been a crime not to grill out, and grill out we did.  My wife scoured the internet and came back with a recipe she started with on Recipe Zaar for ‘Amazing Chicken Marinade’.  I don’t know that it was amazing but it was pretty good.  After a surprisingly strenuous medicine ball work out, I fired up the grill.  Well technically I got the charcoal chimney started.  Once the grill and charcoal were ready, I lubed up the rack with a paper towel and some cooking oil, threw a small handful of mesquite chips on the coals and put the chicken on.

Chicken Breast on the Grill

Ingredients
1/4 c cider vinegar
3 tbsp mustard seeds
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 lime, juiced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp olive oil
ground black pepper
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

Instructions
Crush 1 tbsp of the mustard in a mortar and pestle.  Then in a large, non-reactive container, whisk together ingredients beginning with cider vinegar through salt.  Then whisk in olive oil and pepper.  Place chicken in the mixture.  Cover and marinate chicken in the fridge 8 hours or overnight.  Remove chicken from marinade and grill for about 10 minutes per side over medium high heat.

Even though the recipe wasn’t mine or Vanessa’s for that matter;  it was simple and with a little tweaking (mustard seeds over mustard) it was most tasty so I thought I would share it here.  Enjoy.

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