Day Three: Huli Huli Chicken with Pineapple and Coconut Lime Rice

     Many of the recipes I've chosen to do during this grilled chicken week calls for whole chicken, which I chose not to use, as I'm cooking for only my husband and myself. Therefore, I've adapted the recipes to just using 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts. If you would like to see the recipe for the whole chicken, please see the link at the bottom of the recipes. 

     This Huli Huli chicken is Hawaiian inspired with the pineapple juice and has a good punch from the soy sauce. This is really tasty! I also cut up a fresh pineapple to grill along with the chicken... so scrumptious! You could probably get away with using canned pineapple rings, which I've done in the past, but if you can find fresh pineapple in season, definitely go the extra step with the fresh... totally worth it! I also served this with a coconut lime rice.
     This recipe is a little bit more involved, but not difficult in the least, and definitely worth the extra few steps! The extra steps involve making a brine. More people are familiar with brines now since it's become this huge thing to bring turkeys at Thanksgiving (which if you haven't, you MUST try it! There is absolutely nothing like it! For a wonderful Turkey brine, try Alton Brown's.) For those that are still in the dark about brines, basically it's a flavored liquid that you marinate your lean meats in (it's not technically marinating, but we'll just use that word for now), in order to create more moist and flavorful meat. Usually, most brines will include water, salt, sugar, and other flavoring agents. Your biggest issue with brining is finding a container large enough, but for this recipe, since we're only doing a few chicken breasts, we'll just use a resealable plastic bag. 


Ingredients:
Brine
2 C cold water
1/2 C soy sauce
1 tsp vegetable oil
1-2 cloves garlic
1 t fresh ginger (I have the jarred ginger, and it makes cooking with ginger much easier)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts


Glaze
9 oz pineapple juice (I used a pineapple coconut juice)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 T C soy sauce
2 T ketchup
2 T rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic
1 T fresh ginger
1 t Sriracha

Rice:
1 C dry rice
1 C coconut milk
1 C water
1 lime

1 fresh pineapple, cut into spears*

*Slice the top and bottom off the pineapple, and stand it up. Using a sharp knife, very carefully saw down the pineapple taking the rind off. Go back around, taking any leftover rind off and then slice the pineapple long ways down the middle. Slice each half in half again. Stand each quarter up, and carefully slice the hard core off. Then cut into spears for this recipe, or chunks for salads, stir fry, or snacks. It's kinda difficult at first, but after several tries, it becomes super easy.

Directions:

For the brine, add vegetable oil to a small saucepan over med high heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and add water and soy sauce and stir to combine. Add liquid to a plastic bag and add chicken. Refrigerate for up to 8 hours. (I did this step in the morning, so it was ready to go by dinnertime. 

30 minutes before you are going to eat, prepare your glaze. Combine pineapple juice, sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and Sriracha in small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25-30 minutes, or until thick and syrupy. Remove half of glaze to a separate bowl for serving (This is the step I forgot, and I seriously regret it. Once you put that glazing brush in the bowl and then the chicken, all is lost).

These pictures aren't the best, sorry bout that.

Once you've got your glaze pretty much done, you're ready to start your chicken. Preheat your grill. Lightly spritz the grate with cooking spray, and make sure heat is med-low. Place your chicken on the grate and cook away, undisturbed. For large chicken breasts cook 9-10 minutes on each side; for small-medium (6-7oz) sized breasts, cook 6-7 minutes on each side. Then add your pineapple spears to the grill and watch carefully so they don't burn to a crisp. But definitely get some good color on there and allow them to caramelize a bit.

Now that you put your chicken on the grill, lets get the rice started. For just the hubby and I, I make 1 C dry rice for our dinners. Here's what I did. Heat 1 C coconut milk in saucepan with 1 C water. Add the juice of 1 lime and 1 C rice. Allow to come to a boil and turn down heat to very low. Set that timer for 10 minutes and wait for super delish rice (Time and heat may vary, but I find I get perfect rice on my frustrating stove this way). 

When the rice has started go turn your chicken, and brush some glaze on the top. When the other side has had it's 6-7 minutes, turn the chicken and add more glaze. I let the chicken cook for just another minute or so to let the glaze kinda cook into the meat a bit. Plate your chicken and take it inside with you to rest while you finish up your rice. 

To plate, place pineapple over a bed of coconut lime rice, served alongside chicken. Serve with reserved glaze on the side. Ooh and aah over these delish flavors!

Recipe Adapted from: Serious Eats

Day Two: Greek Chicken with Tzatziki

   
     We really enjoyed this dish! The flavors were so strong and exotic! It was super flavorful! I served this with Near East's box of Mediterranean couscous and it was just the perfect match for the chicken and tzatziki! I was about to make Mediterranean couscous from scratch, but I just so happened to have a box in my pantry. I will definitely be making this again! Super tasty, and super easy! 

Ingredients:
1/2 t turmeric
sea salt
1/4 c Greek yogurt
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
sea salt
Oregano for garnish

Olive Oil
1 red onion, sliced into rings
1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper sliced into eighths

Tzatziki sauce:
1 C Greek yogurt
1/8 C fresh dill, chopped
1/8 C fresh mint, chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1/3- 1/2 English cucumber, peeled and finely chopped*

*If using a regular cucumber, make sure to seed the cucumber before dicing.

Directions:
Combine turmeric and a pinch of salt with the Greek yogurt in a plastic bag. Add chicken and toss to coat. Marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours.

Preheat grill. Spritz grill with Pam and place chicken breast on the grate. For small to medium breasts, grill 6 -7 minutes per side. For large chicken breasts, grill for 9-10 minutes per side.

Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place on grill at the same time as chicken and turn with chicken. Watch closely so the vegetables do not burn, but only slightly begin to char; or let them burn, whatever you like!

Start couscous. Make according to box directions. Add ingredients to pot, bring to a boil, add couscous and remove from heat and allow to sit for five minutes before fluffing with a fork.

While chicken is grilling, make tzatziki sauce. Combine yogurt with the fresh dill, mint, lemon juice, cucumber. Season with salt. Refrigerate.

Serve chicken on top of couscous with a dollop of tzatziki sauce. Serve grilled vegetables alongside chicken. Be amazed at your awesome skills!

Recipe Adapted from: Food Network

Day One: Grilled Chicken with Pepper Peach Relish

Ingredients:
For the Chicken
1/4 t salt
1/8 t each of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts; roughly 6 oz each

For the Glaze
1/4 C peach preserves
2 T lemon juice
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes

For the Relish
1 medium peach, peeled and finely chopped
1/3 C red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/3 C yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
1 green onion (scallion), finely chopped
2 T fresh mint, minced

Directions:
Prep and Heat the grill to medium.

Combine the spices and rub onto chicken; set aside.

Combine ingredients for glaze; set aside.

Combine ingredients for relish; set aside.

Spray grill lightly with cooking spray (careful with this, spray in spurts so as not to attract huge flareups). [Alt. Using tongs, brush the grate with a paper towel coated in oil].

Place chicken on grill and cover; cook for roughly 6 minutes on each side. Baste frequently with glaze.

Serve with pepper peach relish.

I served this with an orzo side dish.
I cooked 1/2 C of orzo, tossed it with 2 T olive oil, 1 T fresh basil, and some salt and pepper.

     This was pretty delicious. The relish gave this a great pop of flavor. Very simple to make, especially if you make the glaze and relish earlier in the day (which would probably make it more flavorful anyways). I also thought that it might be really good to add some jalapeno to the relish next time I make it. I will definitely make this one again; we both really enjoyed it!

Saltine Toffee

     This stuff.... there are hardly words to describe how delicious this little treat is!

     Several years ago we were gathered at my grandparents house in Riverside, CA preparing a holiday meal together when my uncle told us about this little dessert/treat he was going to make us. He said that his friend brought it to work one day and it was so addicting and everyone loved it, so he got the recipe to make for us. We were all excited... until we heard the ingredients: saltine crackers mixed with chocolate and a caramely sauce. Now, the chocolate and caramel sauce sounded great... but we were all a little skeptical about it being paired with saltine crackers. But, we told him we'd give it a shot.

     Boy oh boy were we ever so wrong. This is seriously addicting. We all pretty much stuffed ourselves with this rich and tasty treat that we weren't really too hungry when dinner came around. Whoops!

     Now, years later, I remembered the recipe and wanted to try it again, when I searched online for it... everyone was referring to it as "crack" because of how addicting it is... which made me laugh. It is pretty addicting. Therefore, you must go try it! It's super simple and easy to make with very few steps for a super big tasting treat! So, go, right now, and find these items to make this... I'll wait.

30-50 saltine crackers, depending upon how large your cookie sheet is, I used 48 for my large pan
1 C butter (add another 1/4 C if you are using more than 40 crackers)
1 C brown sugar (again, more if you're making a larger batch)
2 C semisweet chocolate chips
*optional: add crushed nuts to the top, or even crushed pretzels would be good... but I'm a purist, just chocolate for me please!

Preheat oven to 400°.

Line cookie sheet with foil and allow extra to fold over the edges for easy clean up.

Line the foil with the saltine crackers, covering the whole sheet, allowing for no space between each.

I have a Paula Dean Jelly Roll pan which is something like 12x17

In a saucepan, allow your butter to melt and add your sugar. Bring to a boil, and boil for 3 minutes, stirring continuously. Reduce heat and continue to simmer for a few minutes more until thickened.
**Be SUPER careful on this step. This is turning into a caramel type sauce and if you touch even a tiny bit it WILL burn you... I say this from multiple experiences. 

Pour this mixture over your crackers, taking care to try and make sure that it is evenly distributed. You don't want to leave any poor cracker out of this step, or you'll hurt its feelings.

Bake this for 5-6 minutes and remove from oven. Sprinkle the crackers with chocolate chips. Let sit for 1 minute or so (to allow the chocolate to get soft and melty), and then, using an offset spatula, spread the chocolate over the top to evenly coat.
**Again, if you do not have an offset spatula... GET ONE! They're not expensive at all, and it will make your cooking life so much easier. I have used it for SO many things.

If you're using nuts or pretzels, now is the time to add them, while the chocolate is still warm and not hardened.

Allow to cool completely. I let it cool on the counter for a while, 30 minutes or so, and then put it in the fridge to further cool down.

Take it out, break it into pieces and enjoy!
Break it into toffee type pices, on the diagonal, etc. This last time I went to break it into pieces and they just all came apart in the squares of the cracker, which worked perfectly fine too.

Recipe Courtesy of: My Uncle's friend, unknown to me, but super awesome for having this great recipe!

Thai Chicken and Pineapple Stir Fry

     Grant and I LOVE Thai food. There's this great little place in Bakersfield called the Thai House on Ming that we were introduced to a while back courtesy of Grant's previous occupation. We love to go there and get their Tom Yum Goong soup (spicy and sour soup with shrimp, straw mushrooms, carrots, and cilantro), Grant loves their Pad Kee Mow (drunken noodles with chicken and bell peppers, extra spicy), and my favorite the Yellow Curry Fried Rice, which is chicken with rice and lots of curry powder... yum! My dream is to recreate that dish at home sometime! 

     I've been in a bit of a Thai cooking frenzy lately. Last week I think three of our dinners consisted of Thai dishes. What I love about it is that they were all Thai dishes, and yet all so distinctly different. I love the sweet, spicy, and salty combinations. I love the hint of citrus in some of the dishes. It's all just so great! 

     This dish is great. I loved the addition of pineapple, it added such a brightness to the dish. 

1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1 inch chunks

1 tbsp Thai Kitchen fish sauce

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp oil, divided

1 tsp garlic

1 tsp ginger

2 C bell pepper cut into 1 inch chunks (whatever color you like)

1 serrano chili pepper, chopped (if you don't want the heat, just take out the seeds and ribs)

1 can pineapple chunks, 1/4 C juice reserved

1/2 C Sweet and Spicy Chili dipping sauce *Next time I'm going to attempt to make my own Chili sauce!

cilantro 

Combine chicken and fish sauce in a bowl. Add the cornstarch and stir to coat. Set aside.

Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in skillet, add chicken and stir fry for 5 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from skillet to a bowl or plate and cover to keep warm. 

Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in large skillet over med high. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds or so; be careful not to burn garlic. Add peppers, serrano pepper and pineapple and continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes until peppers are close to the texture you want. Add the Chili dipping sauce and reserved pineapple juice; cook a few more minutes until it begins to thicken. Add chicken and toss to coat.

Serve over white rice and garnish with a sprinkling of cilantro. Then enjoy and make yummy noises!

Recipe Courtesy of: Gina's Skinny Recipes