chicken | Cupcakes and Commentary

Grilled Pepperjack Chicken

June 24, 2009 No Comments

This is a fairly easy recipe that my mom told me about. It’s best grilled (you can use an outdoor or indoor grill), but you could bake the chicken if you prefer. I do not have pictures of the particular recipe because I am fairly new to grilling, as we finally have a place where we can use a grill. While I was grilling the chicken I decided I would just throw the onions and the bacon on the grill that I was planning to top the chicken with. If you have ever grilled before you can probably imagine what happened next. If so, you can skip to the recipe below, haha, if not I will explain further. Bacon has a lot of fat in it and unless you are a very experienced griller should not be cooked on a grill. I tossed everything on the grill, shut the top, and left it for five minutes (oh and I did look up grilling bacon and I had the grill on low heat). When I came back and opened the grill all of the bacon was on fire, as well as the onions. I shut the grill ran in the house and got my husband to come help me put out the fire. After we pounded out the fire with a spatula, the bacon had completely disintegrated within the grill. However, we did get some tasty charbroiled onions and chicken out of the mess. So I suggest frying the bacon or cooking it in the oven (on a cookie sheet) per package instructions.

Ingredients (makes enough for 2, but can be easily doubled):

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 slices of sandwich friendly pepperjack cheese

2 thick full sliced rounds of onion (with all the center rounds)

2 pieces of bacon (cooked per package instructions)

Barbecue sauce (you can buy your favorite, or make your own)

Olive oil

kosher salt and pepper

Instructions:

Set a grill to medium-high heat. Generously season chicken with salt and pepper. Place some barbecue sauce in a plastic bag. Insert chicken into plastic bag, close tightly and shake bag to cover with barbecue sauce (You may need to add a couple tablespoons of water if the sauce is particularly thick). Place in fridge to marinate for fifteen minutes (you could also do this early in the day and the chicken will be just even more seasoned). On a separate dish coat onions with olive oil. Keep onions in tact, don’t separate rings.

Place onions and chicken on the grill. Let onions cook for about 15 minutes, and remove when they begin to caramelize and become soft. Let chicken cook for about ten minutes then turn. Cook for another ten minutes and then check temperature. Continue cooking for five minutes at a time, turning each time you check it, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees. After the chicken has reached the appropriate temperature, evenly distribute onions, bacon, and lastly cheese on the chicken. Turn the grill to low and let the cheese melt thoroughly on the chicken. Remove chicken and eat!

Favorite Recipes

Jack Bauer Quesadillas

May 24, 2009 No Comments

These are in honor of our semi-yearly (January through May) commitment to spend at least one hour a week clenching our fists in tension as we wait to see what will unfold on the next season of 24. I made these one Monday night and they earned their moniker because they contain a jack with an intense kick!

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken tenders

1 package of monterey jack cheese

1/4- 1/2 cup of store bought mesquite marinade

2-4 tablespoons of hot sauce

Jarred pickled jalapeno’s

1 package of tortillas

Sour Cream (optional)

Salsa (optional)

Instructions:

Dice chicken into bite size pieces. Place into a medium hot skillet with about 1/4 cup of the marinade. Add about 2 (or more) tablespoons of hot sauce to the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked through heat tortillas on a griddle or in a skillet. Place some chicken on one half of the tortilla, add some monetery jack cheese, and as many jalapeno’s as you like. Fold the empty half of the tortilla over the covered half. Slice and dip in sour cream or salsa.

Chicken Quesadillas Cooking in the Skillet

Favorite Recipes

Chicken Enchiladas

May 24, 2009 2 Comments

In honor of a belated Mother’s Day, I bring you my Mom’s chicken enchiladas.

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast

2 cans cream of chicken soup

About 1 cup of sour cream (you can add 1/2 cup more if you like sour cream!)

1 package of montery jack cheese (you can buy pre-shredded, or get a block and grate it!)

1 package of sharp cheddar cheese (you can buy pre-shredded, or get a block and grate it!)

1 can of green chilies (optional)

1 can of chopped olives (optional)

1/4 cup of chopped green onions

1 to 2 packages of flour tortillas

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Poach chicken on a low boil until cooked completely (around 25 minutes for defrosted chicken, about 40 minutes for frozen chicken). After chicken is poached and cooled shred chicken into bite size pieces. Set aside about a third each of the cheddar and monterey jack cheese. In a seperate bowl mix together the sour cream, cream of chicken soup, remaining cheddar and monterey jack cheese, and green onions. Remove 1 and 1/2 cups of the sour cream mixture and set aside. Add shredded chicken to remaining sour cream mixture (*Tip: mix the chicken a bit at a time until it looks consistent with the sour cream mixture but not dried out, I don’t always add all the chicken). Cook tortillas on a griddle, roll about four-five tablespoons of mixture per tortilla. Place filled tortillas in a 9X13 pan. Spread the set aside sour cream mixture on top of the tortillas and top with the set aside cheese. Cook for 30 minutes until bubbly and cheese is starting to brown. Top with optional green chilies, olives, and extra green onions.

Extra Tips: This is a great make ahead dish. It can be frozen for about a month and can be made a day ahead if refrigerated. The entire recipe makes quite a bit, so I occasionally make half and then freeze half. If you are cooking it frozen cook for at least 40 minutes covered in foil, and then another 20-30 uncovered. If refrigerated cook for 30 minutes covered and 15-20 minutes uncovered.