Assertive Citrus Chicken

I grew up to be a shy person, up until I went to college. No one would have called me assertive. It came as quite a revelation to me, when I finally shed my shy behaviors and blossomed, that being assertive could be fun. Understand, I'm still shy inside, I just don't behave that way. I suspect that there are a lot of people who do the same.

Ducks and geese are very assertive, but chickens seem to mostly be silly. Recently Sweetie and I took care of our neighbor's flock of chickens, all 30 strong, and had the devil of a time getting them to go into the hen house at night, not because they were being assertive but because they were being distracted by the goat who wanted to play with all of us. One of us would chase them toward the door and the other would try to keep the goat away and wave the chickens into the doorway at the same time. I'm sure it would have been a hit on YouTube if anyone had filmed it.

A good time for a chicken to be assertive is when it is cooked. In this recipe the fairly forward flavors of cilantro, garlic, scallions, citrus and soy join up in a marinade for chicken thighs that is full of zestiness but not heat. I served it with steamed rice and steamed broccoli. The marinade went pretty well with those, too. There is an Asian sensibility to the marinade that I really enjoyed. The flavorful crispy skin was a nice bite of luxury, too.

As with many recipes I made a few changes. For one thing it has been a warm day. Sweetie offered to grill the chicken, instead of broiling it, to keep the kitchen cooler. Had my vote! I also found that I only had half a lime, so I added extra orange juice and zest for plenty of citrusness. I used a sharp knife to cut strips of the citrus zest and let the food processor chop them up instead of zesting the skin.  The finished chicken was pretty salty, so next time I'll cut back on the salt some. I also marinated it for about 4 hours, but it was absolutely delicious (other than salty), so that is not a problem.

I think that this recipe could easily be doubled if you are going to have  a larger group than 4. With those assertive flavors, the piece we have left over will probably taste even better tomorrow.

 

Citrus Marinated Chicken Thighs
from Bon Appetit magazine, Aug. 2013

"An aggressively seasoned marinade delivers big flavor"

1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 bunch cilantro, leaves and tender stems only, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 lb. bone-in chicken thighs with skin left on

Set aside 1/4 cup of the sliced scallions for garnish.

Pulse cilantro, garlic, zests, juices, soy sauce, oil and salt and remaining scallions (green onions)in a food processor or blender until a coarse puree forms. Set aside 1/4 cup of the marinade. Place the remaining marinade in a large reseal able plastic bag. Add chicken, seal bag, and turn to coat. Chill at least 20 minutes. If chilling longer (up to 2 hours ahead), occasionally turn bag over to redistribute the marinade. Keep chilled.

Preheat broiler or prepare grill. Remove chicken from marinade and dispose of used marinade. To broil, place chicken, skin side down,  on a foil-lined broiler-proof baking sheet. Broil chicken until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Turn pieces over and continue to broil until cooked through. An instant read thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 165 degrees F. - 12 - 15 minutes longer. To cook on grill, place chicken pieces, skin side down on prepared grill and grill 5 minutes. Turn and grill until cooked through, about 12 - 15 minutes longer. Use same technique as above to test for doneness.

Serve chicken with reserved marinade and sprinkle on the scallions. Serves 4.

Gulp...Grilled Pizza

Perhaps those who have followed this blog for a while think that I am fearless in the culinary arena since I often change recipes I've never made before and jump right in to the Daring Bakers ...and now the Bread Baking Babes, too...challenges. Mostly that's true, but there are some things that I've been too chicken to try.

Grilled pizza is one of them. One reason is probably because Sweetie is soooo great at grilling things, so I never have developed a comfort level about grilling things in general. Another on is that I've always had this image of a fully loaded pizza sliding through the grill grates and catching fire on my first try. That's enough to give me pause. Even when I was successful with pizza baked in the oven I was still really nervous about trying it on the grill.

This morning I woke up and decided that today I was going to stare down my fear of grilling pizza and give it a try. During the past week I have been reading online recipes and an Alton Brown one to get some ideas on how others have done it. I went to the store and bought the things I wanted to put on the pizzas. This morning I made the dough, using a recipe in Alton Brown's Gear For Your Kitchen book. After it doubled in size I tucked it in the fridge so I could keep scraping paint on the bathroom window in preparation for putting on new paint this week.

Late this afternoon, when the sun was turning everything golden and the shadows were lengthening (both of which made photographing the pizza process problematic, so be kind when you look at the photos, 'kay?), I rolled out the dough to make four smaller pizzas, assembled everything else and headed for the grill.

As I read through others' recipes I had collected some tips:
1) Have everything you need at the ready once you put the dough on the grill...things go quickly.
2) Put the dough on parchment and oil one side of the dough. Put the oiled side down on the grill first. That way you don't have to oil the grill gratings.

3) Pay attention. Depending on the heat of your grill things can go quickly or more slowly.
4) Have a very large spatula to turn the dough rounds, and to remove the finished pizza. Having a cutting board hand to slide the finished pizzas on for cutting is a great idea, too.

So I started the grill and let it preheat, then went to the kitchen and brought out the toppings, the olive oil, the pastry brush, the cutting board and pizza cutter and a large spatula like thing that is almost as big as a small cookie sheet.

Once the grill was hot enough, I oiled the dough, took each piece and placed it oiled side down and then shut the grill cover. It didn't take very long before the wonderful bread baking smell wafted out. I opened the cover and saw that the dough had bubbled...so I turned the two pieces over (I baked two at a time which was the best amount for my size grill). At that point Sweetie came to see what I was doing so I let him help load toppings on top of the pasta sauce I had just spread on the grilled dough.

He went a bit overboard, so the first two pizzas were fully loaded...lots of thinly sliced zucchini, red onion and mushrooms, slices of pepperoni, a few strips of prosciutto, some pine nuts, shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

He turned the heat up a bit because with all those toppings it was taking the cheese a while to melt and the crust was getting a bit burnt. Guess regulating the heat is something I still need to learn about.

Once those came off the grill we put on the other two pieces, oiled side down just like the first two. Once they were turned they got the pasta sauce but less toppings...just the thinly sliced pepperoni and prosciutto and the two shredded cheeses. The cheese melted more quickly, so these had nice crunchy but not burnt crusts.

I enjoyed both versions and am happy to report that I didn't dump anything into the insides of the grill. It may take another few tries to figure how to regulate the heat better and I will roll the crust thinner next time, too, but I'm no longer afraid to grill pizzas. Hmmmm...bet I could figure out a sourdough version of the pizza dough. Maybe a sweet version with ricotta cheese and fresh fruit. Sweetie may find that his grill has been commandeered by yours truly.

This is absolutely a High Five personal challenge...just wish I had been brave sooner...these were great pizzas! Sending this to the lovely and talented and newly blessed Lynn of Cookie Baker Lynn.

Also sending this over to Susan of Wild Yeast for Yeastspotting, a weekly wonderland of great yeasted inspiration. Her post on grilled pizza (well, two posts actually) gave me hope that I could do this. Thank you Susan!

Last but hardly least this is my entry for Bread Baking Day #32 - Italian Bread since there is hardly anything more Italian than pizza.


Grill-Friendly Pizza Dough
from Alton Brown's Gear For Your Kitchen

1 packet instant yeast (about 2 1/2 oz or 7 gm)
1 pound all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and rolling out
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 cup hot water
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to oil the dough before putting on the grill

Combine the yeast, flour, sugar, and salt, in that order, in a large mixing bowl. In a small mixing bowl combine the water and olive oil and then stir the liquid mixture into the flour mixture with a large wooden spoon until a dough starts to form. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes, or until the dough develops a silky texture.

Oil the surface of the dough and place it in another large mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Divide the dough in half and with a rolling pin roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.(I made mine into four smaller pieces and when they were rolled out placed them onto sheets of parchment, keeping a tea towel over them until ready to grill. I oiled the dough while still on the parchment before placing, oiled side down on the prepared grill.)

Heat grill to medium-low. Oil one side of the dough. Place on grill, oiled side down. Cook the dough on one side until firm and lightly browned, then turn, add your favorite toppings, and cook until lightly browned on the other side and toppings heated through. Remove to cutting board, but and serve right away.

Yield:Two 12-inch pizzas

Waiter, We're Tropical Grillin'

The gas grill has gotten a workout this summer. Grilled salmon, pork, chicken, Italian turkey sausages, ribs, plus pounds and pounds of summer squash have all been grilled by Sweetie. He presents quite a picture sitting by the grill with Merlin the cat on his lap, smoke swirling up from the grill, and a good book drawing his attention away from the food...but never for too long.

One day he came in while the pork roast was still cooking away and held out a tray of bannana halves that he has cooked on the grill. They were warm and sort of gooey in a good way, like caramel but a little firmer. The flavor was smoky and sweet and very tropical.

When Jeanne of Cooksister announced that this month's Waiter event was "Waiter, there's something in my... meatless barbecue", the grilled bananas immediately came to mind. Should I make grilled bannana financiers? Grilled bannana bread? Grilled bannana and peanut butter sandwich? A tart with grilled bannanas and mango curd? Too many possibilities.

Then decision was easy once we purchased some fresh pineapple. Grilled bannanas and grilled pineapple spears would go perfectly with some coconut pineapple ice cream garnished with a little toasted coconut. Tropical grillin' at it's best. The hot bannanas and pineapple contrasted nicely with the cold sweet ice cream and slight crunch of the toasted coconut. The great thing about this recipe is that it will work anytime you have ripe bannanas and some good fresh pineapple and the weather is OK for grilling. You could also grill other kinds of fruit to add to the fun.

A mention should be made about the ice cream. I used some store bought pineapple coconut light ice cream and it was very good. The part that I didn't anticipate is that the hot fruit melted quite a lot of the ice cream. If I did this again, I would make scoops of the ice cream and then freeze the scoops on a try in the freezer until they were very solid. That way the ice cream would start out hard and the hot fruit would soften it nicely instead of melting it into pools. Live and learn. I wrote the recipe with the addition of freezing the ice cream balls.

Tropical Grilled Fruit over Ice Cream with Coconut

1 pint HaagenDaz Rich and Light Pineapple and Coconut ice cream (or a flavor of your choice)

3 medium bannanas, sliced lengthwise, skins left on

1 tsp. light olive oil or salad oil

3 spears fresh pineapple

1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Scoop the ice cream into balls. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze until firm. Leave in freezer until after fruit has been grilled.

Lightly brush the cut side of the bannanas with the oil. Place the bannanas and pineapple on a tray.

In a small cast iron skillet or heavy bottomed pan, toast the coconut, stirring often, until most of the coconut is lightly toasted. Set aside.

Over medium heat, grill the bannanas, cut side down first, and the pineapple spears, turning once as soon as the first side carmelizes where it touches the grill, about 4-5 minutes. Continue grilling on the second side until the bannanas are softened and the pineapple carmelizes where it touches the grill. The bannana skins will hold the softened bannanas like little boats. Return to the tray and cut the pineapple into chunks.

Remove the ice cream balls from the freezer and place two or three in a bowl. Place pieces of the grilled bannana and chunks of the grilled pineapple in the bowls and sprinkle with the toasted coconut. Serve at once. Serves 3 or 4.

Scotch on That Salmon, Laddie

We don't entertain very often, but last evening invited two couples to join us for grilled salmon and a leisurely meal on the deck shaded by the walnut tree. Just to show that I don't just bake, here is the menu:

A starter of black bean dip with corn chips and assorted fresh veggies. The cucumber slices are the first from my garden this year. Everything else came from the market. We also had Italian country bread and little bowls with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping, and another small bowl with plain almonds to nibble.

The main dish was Sweetie's speacialty, grilled salmon fillets with Scotch. Yes, I said Scotch, laddie. The alcohol burns off leaving a nice, subtle smoky taste. The liquor also does a little tenderizing of the fish. He does the same sort of thing with other fish, with chicken, pork, lamb, etc. using Irish whisky, bourbon, and so on depending on his mood.

He also used a little olive oil and a smidge of garlic. Along side he grilled some slices of fresh-from-the-garden zucchini.

I made a big salad or field greens, chunks of tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, avocado and feta, which I tossed with a lemon-balsamic vinaigrette and toasted pine nuts.

One of our guest brought some enjoyable wine. Lots of iced water (since it was hot) and more bread rounded out the meal.

The best part of all was sharing all of this with friends who had not met each other before. Everyone seemed to enjoy the others company, so it was absolutely worth the effort. We should do it more often, but probably won't anytime soon...maybe in August.

Dessert? Well, that would be telling...the challenge recipe for the Daring Bakers was on the menu. Check back at the end of the month to see how that went.