Tag: chicken

Recipe: Grilled Chicken Sliders

Seems like we often go to casual gatherings where we take a dish.  I’ve gotten tired of the same old thing, so I looked for a way to do something a little different while still cooking outside.

Enter, Chicken Sliders.  This was pretty simple.  I simply bought thin sliced chicken breasts at the lcoal grocery store.  I cut each in half and hit them liberally with Plowboy’s Yardbird rub.  I grilled a pound of bacon and then  grilled the chicken.  I placed the chicken along with a couple of strips of bacon and a slice of cheddar cheese on Hawaiian rolls to serve.

Here’s the process.  First, I grilled a pound of bacon. Next, I grilled the half chicken breasts that were sliced thin.

And finally, I assmebled the sliders with a slice of cheddar cheese, a couple of strips of bacon, and half a chicken breast on a Hawaiian roll.

A couple of things that I’ll do differently next time.  First, I think I’ll use a tenderizer mallet to flatten the chicken breasts a little mroe.  I also think that the slider would benefit from some other condiment.  BBQ Sauce, mayo, etc.

Other than those few tweaks, this was a success and I’ll be doing this again.

Cheers,
Braddog 

Recipe: Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites

It’s playoff time in the NFL and that means I have a lot of chances to get together with friends for football on the weekends. I don’t do this all that much during the regular season, but after the holidays it seems like folks aren’t as busy and we enjoy getting together.

But I digress. I get tired of the same old snacks that I’ve done for gatherings like this. So, I was looking for something different when I came upon a reference to bacon-wrapped chicken bites. Sounded good to me, so I gave it a shot on Sunday.

I cubed 2 large chicken breasts and wrapped each cube in a half a strip of bacon. I then rolled them in brown sugar and hit them with a little bit of spicey rub. That’s all there was to it.

I fired up the Big Green Egg and set it up for indirect cooking. However, I ran the temp up to about 350 degrees. The chicken cooked for 45 minutes to an hour. The only problem I had was judging the doneness of the chicken, as I couldn’t really see the chicken through the bacon.

There are a couple of things I’ll do differently next time.  First, I won’t panic and switch to direct cooking half-way through.  That was a mistake (and why there are no “after” photos).  Second, I think a little more brown sugar and a little more heat would be good.  I will try to punch up the flavor next time for sure.

Conference championships are coming up this weekend so you’ve got time to perfect your game time grub before the Superbowl.   Leave a comment and let me know what you’re going to cook for the big game.

Cheers,
Braddog 

Recipe: Grill Fried Chicken Wings

At Thanksgiving, I was visiting family in Pittsburgh and met the owner of Cafe Fifth Avenue.  It’s a bar and restaurant that’s right next to Consol Energy Arena where we always take in a Turkey Day Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game.  He serves up some mighty tasty chicken wings and through the course of the conversation (and a couple of cold beers), he sent me home with a bag of the seasoning that uses for my very own.  If you’re in Pittsburgh, please stop by and try his chicken wings.  They were awesome!

I’d been itching to try this on fried chicken, but due to life circumstances in and around the holidays I’ve been trying to eat a little better and fried chicken just hasn’t been on my list.  But Sunday, I deciced to try and adapt a recipe for “oven fried” chicken to the grill.

So I soaked a package of chicken wings in buttermilk, seasoned the flour with my new chicken seasoning, and placed the wings in a disposable pan.  While this seemed like a reasonable approach, I don’t think my fire was every really hot enough.  Towards the end I finally got it where it should have been all along, around 425 degrees.

I did pull the wings out of the pan and crisp them a little directly over the fire at the very end.  All in all, the wings were tasty and preferred by my kids over the chicken breasts that I was also grilling.  I’ll probably give this another try soon and I’ll use a little more of the seasoning on the chicken.  Heck, the Super Bowl is coming up and you can’t go wrong with chicken wings at a football game, now can you?

Cheers,
Braddog 

Spatchcock Chicken on the Big Green Egg

I’ve done this several times and pulled the chicken for sandwhiches and the like.  However, I’ve had two conversations this week with folks who didn’t necessarily get what I was talking about.  So here’s a shot of a “spatchcock” or butterflied chicken.

To do this, just cut down each side of the backbone/spine of a whole chicken and remove it.  Place your fingers in each side of the incision, press inward on the breast bone with your thumbs, pull each side apart apart at the incision that you’ve made, and the breast bone will crack open till the bird lies flat.  I grill these at ~325 degrees or so for ~1 hour & 15 mins (or until they’re done).

If you haven’t tried this, you should.  It’s pretty darned tasty.

Cheers,
Braddog