A very quiet fourth of July weekend. I decided, rather at the last minute, to make chicken on the grill and roasted potatoes. I got a little help from the folks at McCormick Seasoning for our festive dinner and I will share that with you now.
We started with a package of skinless, boneless chicken breasts from Giant and a Mesquite flavoring packet from McCormick. With those two items, you know dinner is going to be good.
First thing was to remove the chicken breasts from the package and rinse them thoroughly under cool water. I place them in a colander in the sink and give them a good rinse, rubbing them with my hands to get them clean. Blot with several sheets of paper towels when you remove them from the colander.
Next, it was time to make the marinade. It is extremely simple to make. You just add the contents of the seasoning packet to a Ziploc bag. Then add, one-quarter cup water, one-quarter cup vegetable oil and use your fingers to incorporate it all in the bag.
Once you have that done, add your chicken. You will have enough marinade for two pounds of chicken.
Close your Ziploc bag and seal. Turn the bag in all different directions to get the chicken thoroughly coated with the marinade.
After I was satisfied that the chicken was coated on all sides, I opened the bag and, using a regular dinner fork, pierced each chicken breast several times. Then I sealed the bag and placed it into the refrigerator. The minimum amount of time to marinade is 15 minutes. I let these marinade for about six hours.
When I was ready to make dinner, I removed the bag from the refrigerator. I found my KitchenAid rolling pin and I began tenderizing the breasts in the bag. Pound, pound, pound until they are somewhat flattened. Not as flat as for chicken scaloppini. But just enough so that they will cook evenly on the grill.
You want to know, "Why did he use the rolling pin to do this? Why not use a meat tenderizer mallet?" The head on the meat tenderizer mallet I have is metal and it is squared. Being squared means there are sharp right angles which means it causes an immense mess when you tenderize anything in a bag or between waxed paper because the square metal head cuts into the plastic bag or the waxed paper. I need to get one that has a rounded head, but I have not done that, so I use the rolling pin, which actually works perfectly. I guess that is why I have not replaced the current mallet.
Here are our beautifully marinaded and tenderized chicken breasts, ready for the grill.
I used the large George Foreman electric deck grill for these. I just love this grill. It is so easy to use. Just plug it in and set the temperature. When you are done, remove the griddle plate and clean it with a hot soapy sponge. Put it back in place and your are done. That's not to say that I don't enjoying grilling on a hibachi with charcoal. I do. But this is just super easy and the food is always perfectly done.
Finally, our chicken breasts, plated and ready for dinner. They were perfectly done grilled for seven minutes on each side. The mesquite marinade is fantastic. I will be keeping several packets in the pantry from now on. It has a mild flavor with just a tiny bit of heat. Not overpowering though.
In addition to the chicken we made roasted potato wedges. Be sure and come back on Monday to see how those turned out and to see our finished plate. I hope you give these a try sometime soon. I know you will love them.
We started with a package of skinless, boneless chicken breasts from Giant and a Mesquite flavoring packet from McCormick. With those two items, you know dinner is going to be good.
First thing was to remove the chicken breasts from the package and rinse them thoroughly under cool water. I place them in a colander in the sink and give them a good rinse, rubbing them with my hands to get them clean. Blot with several sheets of paper towels when you remove them from the colander.
Next, it was time to make the marinade. It is extremely simple to make. You just add the contents of the seasoning packet to a Ziploc bag. Then add, one-quarter cup water, one-quarter cup vegetable oil and use your fingers to incorporate it all in the bag.
Once you have that done, add your chicken. You will have enough marinade for two pounds of chicken.
Close your Ziploc bag and seal. Turn the bag in all different directions to get the chicken thoroughly coated with the marinade.
After I was satisfied that the chicken was coated on all sides, I opened the bag and, using a regular dinner fork, pierced each chicken breast several times. Then I sealed the bag and placed it into the refrigerator. The minimum amount of time to marinade is 15 minutes. I let these marinade for about six hours.
When I was ready to make dinner, I removed the bag from the refrigerator. I found my KitchenAid rolling pin and I began tenderizing the breasts in the bag. Pound, pound, pound until they are somewhat flattened. Not as flat as for chicken scaloppini. But just enough so that they will cook evenly on the grill.
You want to know, "Why did he use the rolling pin to do this? Why not use a meat tenderizer mallet?" The head on the meat tenderizer mallet I have is metal and it is squared. Being squared means there are sharp right angles which means it causes an immense mess when you tenderize anything in a bag or between waxed paper because the square metal head cuts into the plastic bag or the waxed paper. I need to get one that has a rounded head, but I have not done that, so I use the rolling pin, which actually works perfectly. I guess that is why I have not replaced the current mallet.
Here are our beautifully marinaded and tenderized chicken breasts, ready for the grill.
I used the large George Foreman electric deck grill for these. I just love this grill. It is so easy to use. Just plug it in and set the temperature. When you are done, remove the griddle plate and clean it with a hot soapy sponge. Put it back in place and your are done. That's not to say that I don't enjoying grilling on a hibachi with charcoal. I do. But this is just super easy and the food is always perfectly done.
Finally, our chicken breasts, plated and ready for dinner. They were perfectly done grilled for seven minutes on each side. The mesquite marinade is fantastic. I will be keeping several packets in the pantry from now on. It has a mild flavor with just a tiny bit of heat. Not overpowering though.
In addition to the chicken we made roasted potato wedges. Be sure and come back on Monday to see how those turned out and to see our finished plate. I hope you give these a try sometime soon. I know you will love them.
