Butterflied Grilled Chicken

Per our usual weekly routine, Chris and I went to Whole Foods this past weekend to find something new and exciting to cook. Having exhausted the "unusual meats" category (bison steak, beef shank, etc.), we decided to make an effort at the one meat that has always eluded us: chicken.

In fact, one of my very first posts talked about our utter lack of skill in cooking a chicken.

So this past weekend, I went up to the meat counter, and asked for a chicken.

"Do you want that butterflied?"

I hadn't thought of that! I told him we were going to be grilling, and he suggested giving it a try. So he did a thorough job of butterflying it, removing the backbone, and removing the kill bone.

Consulting the cooking bible when we got home, we set about making a grilled butterflied chicken.

The result?

Oh. my. goodness.

Amazing.

I will never make a whole chicken any other way, ever again. It was flavorful, tender, and downright incredible.


Grilled Butterflied Chicken

Brine:
1/4 cup salt
2 tbs italian seasoning
1 tbs garlic pepper
Water

1 small butterflied chicken
Olive oil
Chopped garlic
Italian seasoning
Garlic Pepper


Mix the salt, italian seasoning, and garlic pepper with enough water to cover the chicken in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

When you're ready to cook the chicken, remove it from the brine and discard the liquid. Rub the chicken with olive oil, chopped garlic, Italian seasoning, garlic pepper, and any other combination of flavorful spices you want to use.



Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes to warm up a little.

Place chicken on a hot grill skin/breast side down. Let cook for 10-12 minutes.



Flip over and if using a grill with multiple burners, kill just the burner directly underneath the chicken to keep it from scorching; leave the other burner(s) on. Close the lid and let the chicken cook for another 15-20 minutes, monitoring temperature to keep it between 350 and 400.



Finally, flip the chicken back over again, and turn the burner beneath the chicken on. Cook for another 5 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 175.

Remove from grill and let sit for 5 minutes.

Grab a fork and dig in!

Bobby Flay's Chicken Salad w/ Chile-Peanut Dressing

It's no big secret that Chris and I love Asian flavors. So when Chris stumbled upon this salad recipe with 5 stars and over 150 reviews, we knew we had to give it a shot!

The salad is definitely hearty and an entree-style salad. It makes a pretty impressive meal and is super easy! Below is the full recipe from Food Network, but I also added some notes where we strayed a bit.

Chinese Chicken Salad with Chile-Peanut Dressing
adapted from foodnetwork.com

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
2 teaspoons chipotle pepper puree (we used chipotle powder)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 cup canola oil (we used peanut oil since this is a peanut dressing)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 head Napa cabbage, shredded
1/2 head romaine lettuce, shredded
2 carrots, shredded (we also added yellow bell pepper)
1/4 pound snow peas, julienned
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts
Chili oil, optional (in our book, this is absolutely not optional!)
Fried wonton strips (store-bought or homemade)

Whisk together the vinegar, peanut butter, ginger, chipotle pepper puree, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, chili oil, and canola/peanut oil in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Combine cabbage, lettuce, carrots, snow peas, cilantro, and green onion in a large bowl. Add the dressing and toss to combine.

Transfer to a serving platter and top with the shredded chicken, chopped peanuts, and fried wonton strips. Sprinkle with black and white sesame seeds.

Condo Makeover

Well, apparently I took the entire month of February off from blogging. Life has just gotten in the way, but I do have something to show for it!

Chris and I bought our condo!

The condo that we've lived in for the past year or so was available to purchase, so we took the leap and became homeowners. But with that, came the immediate desire to change absolutely everything about it.

We were so thankful then that my wonderful parents offered to fly out and help us for a long weekend!

The condo used to be very dark, with dark walls and mediocre lighting. Oh, and we can't possibly ignore the bamboo blinds.



We tackled the whole thing, ceiling to floorboards, with a brighter coat of paint. We then also installed all new lighting and blinds, and the result is incredible! It's like a whole new home!

A Twist on Italian Wedding Soup

The other night, I had a craving for Italian wedding soup, so I decided to make a new version of it using some ingredients I had on hand. The best part is that it had a familiar flavor, but also tasted completely unique! I didn't have parmesan cheese on hand, but what it lacked in cheese it more than made up with the flavorful sausage meatballs. And of course, it was super simple, perfect for a weeknight.

Turkey Sausage Meatball Soup

2 Spicy Turkey Italian Sausages
2 tbs olive oil
1 shallot, diced
4-5 garlic cloves, chopped
10-15 crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 cups fresh spinach
4-5 cups chicken stock
1 cup short grain rice
Pepper to taste

Slice the sausages down the length of the casing. Unpeel the casing and discard it, leaving just the sausage meat.



Knead the meat together and roll it into tiny meatballs.



Drop the meatballs into boiling water to cook through fully, about 5 minutes.



Remove the meatballs and drain the liquid. To keep a little flavor, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid for the soup (optional).

In a pot, heat the olive oil, then add the chopped garlic and diced shallots. Stir until shallots soften. Next add the chicken stock and rice, as well as any reserved cooking liquid from the meatballs. My measurements here are a little vague because I added these ingredients to suit how much I wanted to make, so keep that in mind!

Bring the soup to a light boil for 5 minutes. Then, add the mushrooms and cook together until the rice is tender, about 5 more minutes. At the end, add the spinach and cook until it begins to darken and wilt, about 2 minutes.

Season with a dash of pepper. Serve with crusty toasted Italian bread.



Enjoy a quick, hearty weeknight soup!