A Tasty Take on Grilled Chicken

Russ and I went to the beach this past weekend for a long weekend to celebrate our first anniversary. We had a wonderful, relaxing time and the only thing we cooked were eggs two mornings and Russ cooked them. I can’t believe how little I have cooked this month. I have actually really missed it and am anxious to get back in the kitchen. I did take my two latest issues of Fine Cooking with me to the beach. I have cooked some out of each, but wanted to spend some more time checking out the other recipes. Tonight I picked one recipe out of each for dinner, Grilled Thai Chicken Breasts with Herb-Lemongrass Crust and Roasted Asparagus with Lemon and Olive Oil.

The Grilled Thai Chicken marinates in a fragrant coconut milk, spice blend for at least two hours. To make the marinade you combine the coconut milk, lemongrass, cilantro, basil, garlic, jalapeno, salt, pepper, ground coriander, and brown sugar. This is all supposed to pureed in a blender or food processor, however, I forgot this step and did not puree the mixture. I halved the marinade since we only used three chicken breasts instead of twelve. Also, I marinated my chicken in a ziploc bag instead of a shallow pan. I tend to always marinate in a ziploc bag, so that I can just toss it when I am done and have one less dish to clean. It needs to marinate at least two hours, so I did the marinade at lunch and let it marinate for about five hours until we were ready to grill it for dinner. Russ did an excellent job grilling it on the Egg.

The chicken had a wonderful flavor to it. We didn't think it screamed Thai, but maybe more Caribbean in flavor. No matter the nationality it was nice sweet, fresh, and a little bit spicy. Next time I think I'll try to start it marinating in the morning to capture a little more of all the flavors. We also thought it could have used a little more kick from the jalapeno. My jalapeno was a little small, so I probably should have used two. I also think that had I pureed the marinade that it would have given more of a crust (hence the name) to the chicken. As a bonus it smelled very fragrant from the coconut juice and all the fresh spices. All in all we thought is was an excellent dish that gets a 10 from Russ!

For the sides I decided to keep them simple, so as not to compete with the chicken. The asparagus is a quick and easy recipe that roasts the asparagus in a little olive oil and salt. Once they are roasted you season them with fresh lemon juice and salt. I also served fresh tomato slices with it. The asparagus was also a winner tonight. It was a very simple dish that produced asparagus with a great, fresh taste to them. The lemon juice was a nice complement to the roasted flavor of the asparagus. This is a great, easy way to prepare asparagus when you want a solid side that won't take center stage. Russ also rated the asparagus a 10!

Both recipes were hits tonight receiving 10s from Russ! I have only been receiving Fine Cooking since the beginning of the year, but it is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. We have had great success with all the recipes we have tried from it. Both the chicken and the asparagus will be repeaters for us.

On somewhat of a side note, I was excited to use basil and a jalapeno out of my garden in the marinade for the chicken. I have a small herb and vegetable garden in pots this summer. Russ and I will be redoing some of our backyard later on this summer, so I decided to do a smaller garden and keep it all in pots for now. I have already picked out a spot for my future garden once the backyard is complete. I hope to make it a year round garden with lots of herbs and vegetables. I’ll try and remember to take a picture of my current potted garden soon to post.

(Cash also went to the beach and had a blast! I have included a few pictures of him from this past weekend.)

Grilled Thai Chicken Breasts with Herb-Lemongrass Crust
Serves twelve.

1 ½ cups chopped fresh cilantro
¾ cup coconut milk
¼ finely chopped lemongrass (from about 2 stalks)
12 fresh basil leaves
3 Thai bird chiles, 2 jalapenos, or 2 medium serranos, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ Tbs. Kosher salt
2 tsp. packed light brown sugar
1 ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
¾ tsp. ground coriander
12 boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves (5 to 5 ½ lb.), trimmed
2 limes, cut into wedges for serving

Combine 1 ¼ cups of the cilantro with the coconut milk, lemongrass, basil, chiles, garlic, salt, brown sugar, pepper, and coriander in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Arrange the chicken breasts in a nonreactive baking dish or other vessel large enough to accommodate them in a snug single layer. Pour the marinade over the breasts and turn to coat well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

Heat a gas grill to medium / high or prepare a medium charcoal fire. Grill the chicken (covered on a gas grill) until it has good grill marks on the first side, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the chicken (cover a gas grill) and continue to cook until firm to the touch and completely cooked through (check by making a cut into one of the thicker breasts) about 5 to 6 more minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter and let rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup cilantro and serve with the lime wedges.

Roasted Asparagus with Lemon and Olive Oil
Serves six.

2 lb. Asparagus, preferably think spears (about two bunches)
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
2 to 3 tsp. fresh lemon juice; more as needed

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat oven to 450 F. Snap off the ends of the asparagus spears. Put the asparagus on a large, rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Gently toss the asparagus with the oil until it’s evenly coated. Distribute the asparagus so that it’s in an even layer. Sprinkle generously with salt and roast until tender (bite into a spear to check), 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the asparagus to a platter, toss with lemon juice, and salt to taste, and serve.

Summer Grilling and Bread Baking

Russ and I went to the Pepper Place Farmer’s Market for the first time this season on Saturday. We really enjoy going and getting some of the wonderful produce there. This was Cash’s first time to the market and he loved it! Russ and I got lots of peaches and some fresh corn on the cob. I decided to try another new recipe out of the June CL to go with the corn and peaches. It is Marinated Chicken Cooked Under a Brick.

This recipe calls for using a whole chicken. Last year I decided to try roasting a whole chicken and was pleasantly surprised how easy it is. It sounds intimidating (at least it did to me) because I think of people talking about cooking whole turkeys and how much work it is, time it takes etc. Well a whole chicken is a lot smaller and very manageable to cook even for a weeknight dinner. I highly recommend you try cooking a whole chicken if you haven’t done it before. We have now roasted and grilled them on with great results. Not only are whole chickens very inexpensive to buy, but we have always had them turn out to be very moist and flavorful. Roasting a whole chicken is especially easy and a good way to cook your first chicken.

You use a whole chicken in this recipe and it has to marinate for 8 hours or overnight. I had intended to prepare the marinade and get it going last night, but I got too tired and did it this morning. It took a little longer than I expected though, so I would recommend doing it the night before if possible. The marinade has minced garlic, chopped shallots, honey, dijon mustard, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and chopped fresh rosemary and thyme. The part that took a little longer than when I normally marinate chicken is that you also have to prepare the chicken. I skinned it this morning and Russ cut the wings off and cut it so it laid flat prior to grilling it. Russ grilled it on low heat for an hour with the bricks (wrapped in foil) on top.

The chicken smelled and tasted fantastic. The marinade gave the chicken great flavor and cooking it for an hour made it very tender. It was moist, but Russ said next time we'll just served the breasts whole (he sliced it) to keep them even more moist. I think we will repeat this chicken again this summer. The only thing I will do differently is to prepare it the night before and let it marinate overnight. I think marinating it for a little longer will only enhance the flavor and not overpower it and it won't make my morning as rushed. Russ rates the chicken a 9.

While the chicken was grilling I had some spare time on my hands, so I decided to do a little baking with the peaches instead of serving them as a side with the chicken. I have been wanting to try more recipes out of my King Arthur Whole Grain Baking cookbook, but have not found time to bake recently. My peaches from the market were ripe, so I decided to try the Peach Oatmeal Bread.

The recipe is a simple one for bread since you just mix the dry ingredients together and then add the oats and sliced peaches to it. Then you mix the wet ingredients together and I did this by hand with a whisk and add it to the flour / peach mixture. I did drain the peaches as the recipe stated, however, next time with fresh peaches I won't bother draining them. Despite the juiciness of the peaches very little juice drained out and to be honest I would have rather had the juice in the bread. If you used canned peaches (which I wouldn't recommend) then do drain them. The only changes I made to the recipe was that I made 4 smaller loaves instead of 1 larger one and I sifted the dry mixture before adding the peaches and oats.

Russ and I both liked this bread. I think I could have taken it out a couple minutes sooner as I thought it was a little dry. I really liked the oatmeal / peach flavor combination, however, I think the bread as a whole could have been a little better. Next time I will add more peaches though as I would have liked to have more in there and cook it a little less time. I think I may even bump it up from 2 to 3 cups leaving everything else the same. I may also bump up the almond extract just a pinch as it adds a nice little extra flavor. I liked that this recipe doesn't use any butter, uses not a lot of sugar, very little oil, and does use whole grain flour. I am anxious to try the bread again today as usually whole grain baked goods are better the next day. This recipe did not call for any resting during the baking process, so I am thinking that sitting overnight has probably only enhanced its flavor. Russ rates the Peach Oatmeal Bread a 8.

* Pictures of the Peach Oatmeal Bread and the recipe will be posted shortly.

Spanish Style Chicken

Russ and I have had lots of fun dinner plans lately that have all involved me not cooking or just doing simple dishes like burger or steaks, so I have not blogged once this month. So, after slow start to June as far as cooking I did try my first recipe out of the new June CL tonight. This issue had a few that caught my eye, but overall was not a winner for me. The Spicy Basque-Style Chicken did stand out to me as a tasty recipe that would be great for a weeknight dinner. I also have a soft place in my heart for any Spanish cuisine after having lived there for a semester during college. While I haven’t been in the Basque region the tomato / green olive combination does remind me of Spanish cuisine.

Jess and Hugo came over for dinner tonight. Cash was very excited as this meant he had buddies over to play two nights in a row since Chester and Wag (and their parents) came over for a Corn Hole tournament last night. Since Jess spent a year and a half living in Spain and is a fan of CL I thought the Spicy Basque-Style Chicken would be the perfect dish for tonight.

You start by sprinkling the paprika and pepper on the chicken and sautéing it. Then you add the garlic and once the chicken has sautéed for a little longer you add the olives and tomatoes. This comes to a boil and then you bring it down to a simmer. Lastly you remove the chicken and bring the tomato /olive mixture back to a boil for a few minutes and then you sprinkle the basil and prosciutto on top. For the cans of tomatoes with chiles I used one mild and one hot. I did make a few minor changes to recipe including using chicken breasts (not tenders) cut into strips, adding sliced onions, and using speck instead of proscuitto (per Russ’ request). I served the chicken over saffron rice with a side of steamed broccoli.

The chicken with the tomato, olive mixture had great flavor to it with a kick from the chiles. We all really liked it and it definitely had a Spanish taste to it. I especially like the green olive / tomato flavor combination. I definitely think two cans of tomatoes with chiles that are hot would be too spicy for me. Unless you can handle lots of spice I would use at least one mild.

CL touts it as a 20 minute meal which it could be, but it took me a little longer. I sliced my own olives and chopped fresh garlic both of which would add a little time into the preparations. It is quick and easy dish to put together and cook. The part that took the longest for me was waiting for the rice to finish, however, in hindsight I should have started the rice sooner than I did.

It was a good Spanish style meal that made me start thinking that I need to make Gloria's paella sometime soon. I have only made it once before and it is a lot of work, but very tasty (although it falls very short of Gloria's who makes the world's best paella) and brings back wonderful memories. Gail - You and Martin will have to drive over to join us for paella when I do make it.

Russ and Jess rate the Basque Style Chicken a 8. Hugo had a small bite and gave it two paws up. Cash was too busy playing to try the chicken. He and Hugo got new stuffed animals from Mom tonight. Cash promptly set a personal best with destroying the bunny doll in five minutes. I have included a picture of him almost done with the bunny - stuffing was flying everywhere.