Saturday, July 31, 2010

Summer Fiesta

Mark has been dying to use his new Weber charcoal grill, so I bought 3 chicken breasts and marinaded them over night.  Mark is the king of the grill, he says the key to being a great grill master is, "When you think it's done, take it off and to trust your instincts".  Easier said than done, (I think) that is why I leave the grilling to him.  He is all about keeping the flavor and keeping the meat moist!  There is nothing worse than a dried up piece of chicken!!!  Please don't boil your chicken before you grill it, it completely dries the meat out.

Balsamic Chicken Marinade 


3 chicken breast
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Wash and place the chicken in a large storage bag, and put all the ingredients in.  Make sure all the air is out of the bag, and move the chicken around.  Let it marinate overnight, playing with  it a few times the next day.

Place the chicken breast over a piping hot charcoal grill, 10 minutes on one side 6 on the other (or there abouts).

To me, a large chicken breast is pretty overwhelming, so I had Mark thinly slice the chicken into 1/4 inch slices.  If you don't have a good sharp knife set, I would definitely recommend  Calphalon!  It is one of our staple cooking utensils!



We then drizzled Stonewall Kitchen's, Balsamic Fig Dressing on the chicken.  I use to work at Stonewall Kitchen when we lived in Portland, Me and it was the BEST job!!  It truly was a dream job, if you like food.



Corn Relish (Marks mom's recipe)


8 ears of farm fresh corn
1 1/2 red bell pepper
1 1/2 green bell pepper
1 med. red onion
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup vinegar (I used apple cider)
1/3 cup canola oil
salt and pepper to taste

Fill a large pot with 2 cups or so of water, and cook the corn for 10 minutes (lid on). Dissolve sugar in a bowl with the vinegar and canola oil.  In a separate bowl dice up peppers, and onion into small pieces.  Using a sharp knife, cut down the sides of the corn and place all the kernels into the bowl with the peppers and onion.  Add the wet ingredients to the veggies, and season with salt and pepper.





I made this recipe early in the morning, so it had time to marinate.  It will keep in your refrigerator for well over a week (if it lasts that long).
I love this recipe because it has so many favors, sweet, sour,  and savory.  It is a perfect complement to any BBQ.  And it is also ascetically pleasing.


If you don't have fresh ears of corn, I'm sure frozen can work, but it won't be nearly as good.




The other side

2 avocados 
15 fresh cherry sized fresh mozzarella
fresh lemon juice

Cut the avocado in half (remove pit by taking a knife and slamming it into the center and twist the knife, be careful removing pit from knife.  I just place knife along by sink and drag the pit off...if that makes sense).  Cut slices into the avocado and carefully remove slices with a large spoon.  Sprinkle with lemon juice so it doesn't brown.  Cut the mozzarella in half, and serve together with avocado.  I also drizzled Stonewall Kitchen's Balsamic Fig Dressing on this.



This meal was a fiesta in your mouth.  It was good eating things separately or getting a bit of everything and putting it all in your mouth.  The texture of the "other side" together was soft and paired with the dressing was delicious.  The chicken was so moist, and when it is cut so thinly you can really taste the flavor and juices.  The corn relish went really well with everything.  It added a fresh crunch that was an added treat.  Mark and I both enjoyed eating and making this meal!!!!  A+

Ciao, 

Mary Proulx

1 comment:

  1. Wow, I looked at your blog while I was hungry... I think I salivated on the keyboard. Looks delicious!

    ReplyDelete