Chicken Recipes, Please?

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken

The marinade for this recipe is made with soy sauce, dry sherry or orange juice (I used the dry sherry), sugar, vegetable oil (I used olive oil), grated ginger, and crushed garlic cloves. (See the recipe for the exact amounts.) The recipe states that you should marinate the chicken for at least an hour but not more than twenty-four hours. I went with two hours, which seemed to be just about right. The recipe also calls for bone-in chicken breasts, but I used boneless skinless chicken breasts this time (probably because that was all I had on hand at the time). I’m sure it doesn’t make much difference what you use. Next time, I’ll probably use chicken thighs with the skin on.

Like I said, this was a simple chicken recipe to prepare, but it was flavorful and delicious. As usual, I had a few people over to share this dish, and they all thought it was quite tasty. I’m sure you’ll agree.

This was a really easy-to-make dinner salad that I found on the Betty Crocker Website. The salad features chicken, of course, and a tasty raspberry glaze. I think raspberry flavoring pairs so well with chicken or just about any type of poultry.

To prepare this recipe, first combine raspberry fruit spread (I used preserves), some red wine vinegar, and some good quality olive oil to make a dressing for the salad. About one-third of the dressing is used as a glaze for grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts that are brushed with the glaze periodically during the grilling process. The sweet sugary glaze provides the chicken with a mouth-watering aroma and a wonderful color.

When the chicken is done, arrange spinach leaves and sliced red onion on dinner plates (or place the entire salad on a large platter). Cut the grilled chicken into half-inch slices, and place it on top of the spinach and onions; drizzle the salad with the remaining raspberry dressing; and sprinkle a generous helping of fresh raspberries and toasted sliced almonds over the entire salad, or leave the raspberries and almonds on the side for your guests to add as much or little of each as they would like.

You won’t be disappointed with this great salad. If you like grilled chicken and you like raspberries, I guarantee that you’ll love “Grilled Chicken and Raspberry Spinach Salad.”

I went back to one of my most recently acquired recipe sources to find another fantastic marinade for grilled chicken. The recipe, called “Grilled Caribbean Chicken,” is from Chefmeow, who has a ton of recipes on the GroupRecipes.com site. My entry on August 25, “Whiskey Grilled Chicken,” is one of Chefmeow’s recipes. That chicken recipe was a real crowd pleaser, and so was this one.

“Caribbean” is an appropriate name for this dish, because it certainly has the flavors that we so often associate with that region: orange, lime, ginger, garlic, and hot pepper. Look at the marinade ingredients list that follows. Don’t you agree that it looks like a tasty concoction?

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger root
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed

This marinade recipe was enough for four boneless and skinless chicken breasts, but I needed eight servings, so I doubled the amounts listed. (I actually tripled the amount of lime juice.) After grilling the chicken breasts until the juices ran clear, the meat became flavorful and moist. I served it with grilled bread slices and grilled vegetables: eggplant slices, bell pepper strips, onions, and zucchini. (Grilled vegetables are one of my favorite side dishes during the grilling months.)

This turned out to be another successful marinated chicken dish. It was easy to prepare, fun to grill, and it tasted so good.

Chicken prepared with the beer can method has become one of the most popular ways to cook chicken. I’ve made beer can chicken several times, in the oven and on the grill, and every time I make it, the chicken is moist and delicious. Although both the baked and grilled versions are terrific, I think the grilled version is the best, but then grilling seems to make everything taste better.

I have written about beer can chicken before: on March 18, 2008, to be exact; but rather than just offer my critique of another beer can chicken recipe, I thought I would describe the steps I use to make beer can chicken. For this go around, I found a recipe on RecipeTips.com that was different than the one I prepared last March (also from RecipeTips.com), so I thought I would give it a try.

Ingredients

Prepare a spice rub with the following ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon black pepper

Remaining Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (about 4 lbs.)
• 1 can of beer (12 oz.)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• The spice rub (3-1/2 tablespoons)

Begin the process by cleaning the chicken and patting it dry. Prepare the simple spice rub, sprinkle 1-1/2 teaspoons of the rub inside the large cavity of the chicken; then sprinkle another 1/2 teaspoon of the rub inside the neck cavity.

Coat the chicken with the olive oil (or vegetable oil); make sure that the entire bird is covered.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the rub over the exterior of the chicken. Cover the surface evenly.

 Pour out one-third of the can of beer (about one-half cup). Create several holes in the top of the beer can in order to vent the can properly, allowing steam to be released when the chicken is cooked.

Add the final 2-1/2 teaspoons of the rub mixture to the remaining beer in the can. This may cause the beer to foam over slightly.

Note: I changed the amounts of the ingredients proportionally for the spice rub mixture, because I wanted to make only enough for this recipe rather than making extra for later use as suggested in the RecipeTips.com recipe.

Hold the chicken held upright with the large opening facing down; then slide the chicken over the beer can, taking care not to tip the can.

Pull the legs forward and tuck the wings behind the bird (unless the wing tips are missing).

Place the chicken in the oven or on the grill. If you are grilling the chicken, cook it over medium heat with the grill cover closed. If you are roasting the chicken in the oven, cook it at 350ºF.

For both cooking methods, cook the chicken about 1-1/2 hours. To ensure proper doneness, make sure the temperature of the thigh is 170ºF, as measured with a reliable meat thermometer.

Remove the chicken from the grill or oven, tent with foil, and allow it to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before carving. The temperature of the meat will continue to rise, reaching a safe temperature of 180ºF in the thickest part of the thigh.

To remove the chicken from the beer can, I use several layers of folded paper towels in each hand to insulate my skin from the hot chicken and beer can. Hold the bottom of the beer can firmly with one hand and pull the chicken off the can with the other. Carve the chicken and serve. Delicious!