All Things Fabulous

It's Grilling Season!

I am so excited that the season has finally come to clean off the grill, stop using the oven and get outside!  I am serious about grilling, so much so that I have a built in grill (I've been known to grill with snow on the ground).  It's healthy, fast, yummy and seriously cuts down on clean up.  

So, this recipe has been kicked around in my family since we were kids.  My twin, Sharma, and I have done some serious tinkering with it and we feel we have reached perfection.  It's Sesame Seed Chicken, and you're going to love it!

Sesame Seed Chicken

The Recipe...

4-6 Boneless skinless chicken breasts or your choice of fish

1/2 cup honey, heated

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame seed oil

1 finger ginger, pealed and sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

3-4 healthy shakes from your sesame seed shaker

The technique...

First things first, put your chicken breasts in a large bag and add all of the ingredients.  I love to marinate in a bag, it's clean and easy.  I actually put the breasts in frozen, added all the ingredients and then let the chicken defrost in the marinade.  Let marinate 8 hours or over night.  If you're doing fish only marinate 30 minutes.

When you're ready to cook don't dump your marinade down the sink!  Pour it into a sauce pan and bring to a simmer while you cook the chicken.  You don't need to add anything, just cook it and it's fantastic as a sauce.

Now for the awesome part, the grilling.  You are about to be let in on the grilling chicken secret to perfect breasts (hee hee).  I'm pretty sure this technique came from Food Network, but I don't know by who.  Preheat your grill to high then scrape and clean it off.  Turn the heat to medium and give it a few minutes to adjust.  Place your breasts on all going the same direction then set the timer for 2 minutes.  I cut my breasts in half because they were huge, so they look more like giant chicken tenders.  The hot grill will give you a nice seared line, and at the end of the two minutes do you flip it?  NO!

You turn the breasts 1/4 of a turn and keep grilling them on the same side another 2 minutes.  When you flip it, they will look like this...

So pretty!  Now you're going to do the same thing on the other side.  2 minutes, turn a 1/4 of a turn and cook another 2 minutes.  Now check the internal temp of the chicken.  You want it to be 180 degrees.  I usually have to cook an additional 2-4 minutes to reach that temp.  When they're done, pull them off and tent with foil until you're ready to serve.  Now, let's go back to the sauce...

Once it's had a chance to simmer you can either just spoon it over the chicken and rice and/or I sliced yellow squash, brushed it on top and then broiled it.  It is a very delicious and sweet taste for veggies.

Grilled Chicken

I actually served mine over wheat bulgur. with the squash and a pasta salad.  This will not be the last time I make this recipe this season.  ENJOY!

<3, Sharla