Recipe of the Week - Orange and Chipotle Rubbed Chicken Breasts

This recipe is from an e-mail newsletter I get - "Weeknight Kitchen" by Lynn Rossetto Kasper of "The Splendid Table" show on NPR. I don't get to listen to her show much, but I like to get the newsletter. Although most of the recipes are quick, they frequently have somewhat exotic ingredients, so I'm not inclined to make them. But, this one seemed really simple so I decided to try it out.

Orange and Chipotle Rubbed Chicken Breasts
I got it from "Weeknight Kitchen" by Lynn Rossetto Kasper.
She excerpted it from: Grill Every Day: 125 Fast-Track Recipes for Weeknights at the Grill by Diane Morgan. Used with permission of Chronicle Books LLC. Copyright 2007 by Diane Morgan.

Ingredients
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 boneless, skin-on chicken breast halves

Directions
Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill on medium-high.

In a bowl or baking dish large enough to hold the chicken, combine the orange juice, olive oil, chiles, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir to mix thoroughly. Add the chicken breasts and turn to coat on both sides. Let the chicken marinate while the grill heats.

To create a cool zone, bank the coals to one side of the grill or turn off one of the burners. Oil the grill grate. Place the chicken breasts, skin side down, directly over the medium-hot fire and sear on one side, about 3 minutes. Turn and sear on the other side for 3 to 4 minutes. Move the chicken to the cooler part of the grill, cover, and grill until the juices run clear when the thickest part of a breast is pierced with a knife, or an instant-read thermometer registers 165 F, 6 to 8 minutes longer.

Divide the chicken breasts among warmed dinner plates. Serve immediately.

The Verdict
Overall, we liked this one. I thought it was a little too pepper-y so I will probably reduce the black pepper next time (but I don't really like pepper so I'm probably not the person to believe on this one). I could not find minced chiles so I got the whole ones and minced them myself. It took about 3 chiles to get 2 Tbsp.

I made it on our indoor grill, which only takes 5 minutes to heat up so I knew that just letting the chicken marinate while the grill heated would not be enough. So, I let it marinate for about 15 minutes, flipping it 1/2 way through. I did pierce the chicken before I put it in the marinade. Still, I did not thing it marinated long enough. Next time, I will try it for an hour or so. The chicken was still very moist and tasty, I just didn't get much of the orange.

I served it with a side of black beans. I tried these canned "Ranch Style" beans that are supposed to be already seasoned but they were pretty plain. I should have bought regular beans and done one of my other black bean recipes.

Our camera is still broken, so no pictures. We did get some of that canned air stuff the other night to try and clean out the crevices around the lens (the problem being that the lens won't open all the way). That is one of the tips I found on-line for fixing the problem. Hopefully that will work (because none of the other tips I've found have).

Recipe of the Week - Salmon Cheddar Bake

I found this recipe on the back of the Honey Boy (r) Salmon can when I bought some for the salmon burgers I made a while back. Since they were on sale, and Alec and I thought this recipe sounded good, I picked up a second can. I finally decided to make it this week. It is basically a salmon and Cheddar quiche.

Honey Boy (r) Alaska Salmon Cheddar Bake
from the Honey Boy (r) Salmon can

Ingredients
1 can (14.75 oz.) Honey Boy (r) Pink Salmon
8 to 9 slices bread, crusts trimmed
1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
6 eggs
3/4 c. milk
1/2 tsp dill weed
1/4 tsp each salt & pepper
1/4 c. sliced green onion
1 Tbsp melted butter

Directions
Drain & flake salmon, set aside.

Cut bread slices diagonally to make triangular pieces. Arrange bread in spiral pattern in a greased 9-inch pie plate to cover bottom. Arrange remaining triangles upright around edges to form a crown. Sprinkle 1/2 c. cheese over bread in bottom of pie plate.

Whisk together eggs, milk, dill, salt and pepper until well combined. Stir in salmon, green onion and remaining cheese. Spoon evenly into pie plate.

Brush edges of bread with melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until center is set. Check after 15-20 minutes. If bread is browning too quickly, cover edges with aluminium foil.

Makes 6 servings.


As usual, I had a few changes. I skipped the "crust" and just poured the filling into a greased pie plate. I didn't sprinkle any cheese in the bottom, I just put the whole 1 1/2 cups in the main mixture. Since I don't like dill, I substituted dried thyme. I unintentionally left out the onion. I didn't even realize it until I was writing this post! I planned to sub regular onion, as I'd used 1/2 an onion earlier in the week for another recipe so I was going to use that up instead of buying the green ones.

Overall, it was good. It maybe had too much egg. If I make it again, I might just use my usual crust-less quiche recipe from Joy of Cooking for the egg and milk measurements.

Recipe of the Week: Honey Nut Chicken Sticks

This is actually from the week-before-last. I made it early in the week and then with getting ready to go out of town, I never posted it.

It's another recipe from Food Network, so I'm just posting the link:

Honey Nut Chicken Sticks
from 30 Minute Meals

Of course, I made a couple of substitutions and changes. First of all, I halved the breading recipe. I couldn't find honey Corn Flakes, so I used Honey Bunches of Oats. I used chicken breasts instead of chicken tenders.

Overall, it was a good dish. I did think the grill seasoning was a little overpowering. I think next time I will cut it back. I could hardly taste the honey from the cereal.

I served it with sourdough toast (our grocery story bakery makes awesome breads!) and my go-to green veggie, peas.

This may be the last picture for a while. Our camera went on the fritz on Friday.