I decided to continue my quest of looking for delicious recipes on some of the fantastic food blogs and one of the top ones is definitely Pinch of Yum, which had a delicious sounding recipe called Spicy Shredded Chipotle Chicken recipe. It seemed tailor made to adapt to the grill and the results were delicious. This recipe is ideal for almost anything that you could use shredded chicken for. It would go great on a salad, my son had it on a tortilla, and, as Lindsey at Pinch of Yum says, it would go great with black beans and many other accompaniments. I started by adding a little bit of olive oil to a cast iron skillet that I had heating on the grill. I added some minced garlic and minced chiptoles and sauteed for a bit until they were done. I agree with Lindsay that those flavors were smelling great! While that was going I got a foil packet of wood chips ready to add the grill while the chicken was grilling. It adds another layer of flavor by filling the grill with smoke while the chicken cooks. Its easy to do. Just put a handful of wood chips on a square of foil. Bring the edges together, and seal, leaving some room for air. Tear a few holes in the foil packet to allow the smoke to escape. It's important to get that foil packet going early because it takes a little time for the chips to start smoldering.
Put the foil packet right over the part of the grill where you have flames going and in 10 minutes or so, it should be sending out smoke through those small holes that you created. If you are using charcoal, just wait until you put the chicken on and then add some chips right on top of the coals.
Next, I put the chicken breasts on the grill and started to brown them. I wasn't looking to get them completely cooked, because part of the recipe is to finish them in a pan of delicious liquid. I just needed them lightly browned. While the chicken breasts were cooking, I started getting the sauce ready that was going to be used to finish the chicken. I added orange juice, chicken broth, and chopped cilantro to the cast iron pan (slowly, so you don't warp or crack the pan). I stirred it well, and then closed the grill lid and let the sauce cook to give the flavors time to mingle and bring the sauce up to at least a simmer. Once the chicken was nicely browned, I added the pieces to the cast iron skillet and let them finish cooking in that delicious juice that I just created. I closed the lid of the grill again and let everything cook until the chicken was done (best to use a thermometer to check--I was looking for about 165-170 degrees. Next I pulled the chicken and put on a cutting board to rest. I had no doubt that it was going to be delicious, because the aroma attracted several bees that decided to try out the food a little bit early! I left the skillet on the grill, lid closed, to cook down the sauce a bit more. In the end, I used more breasts than Lindsay's recipe called for, and didn't increase all the other ingredients as much as I should have. Don't make the same mistake! It will add a ton more flavor to the chicken if you have the right proportions. You'll see why in a minute. After the chicken has rested for about 10 minutes, I took a couple of forks and shredded it, then added it back to the skillet. I tossed the shredded chicken with the sauce and then left it on the grill to heat back up and allow the chicken to soak up all that delicious juice. That's where you want to make sure that you have enough. My result was delicious, but would have been much more moist had I increased the ingredients appropriately. As it was, I did go get some more OJ and chicken broth to add. To repeat myself, don't make the same mistake! Some fresh cilantro on the top finishes off this dish and shows that you can cook a variety of things on your grill! Here's the recipe (sign up for ZipList.com to save it to your recipes on ZipList--it will also add the ingredients to a shopping list automatically for you). Thanks again to Lindsay from Pinch of Yum for this tasty recipe.
- 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, plus 1 tbsp of the sauce
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup orange juice
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 tsp yellow mustard
- Turn on grill, put cast iron skillet on grill, and close the lid.
- Prepare aluminum foil packet of wood chips (hickory, apple, or cherry is nice). Poke holes in the foil packet to allow smoke to escape. Put on grill over the flame.
- Mince the garlic and the chipotle peppers.
- Add oil to hot cast iron skillet, add garlic and peppers and saute for 1-2 minutes.
- Put chicken breasts on grill and cook on both sides until well browned. Chicken does not need to be cooked all the way through.
- Add orange juice, chicken broth, and cilantro to skillet slowly so you don't warp the skillet. Stir and then allow it to come up to a simmer.
- Add chicken breasts to the skillet and close the grill lid.
- Allow chicken to simmer until chicken is well done. Chicken temperature will be 180 degrees.
- Remove chicken from skillet to plate, tent with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- While chicken is resting, mix in the mustard with the sauce. Continue to cook the sauce until it is reduced, no more than half.
- After chicken rests for 10 minutes, use a couple of forks to shred the chicken.
- Add the shredded chicken back to the skillet and toss with the sauce.
- Cook the chicken another 5-10 minutes to allow the flavors to combine and get one last flavoring of smoke.
- Remove chicken from skillet and top with cilantro.
- Serve with a side of rice and beans, on a salad, or in tortillas. It will go great with almost anything that you could use shredded chicken for.
If you have a Dutch oven, this would be a great recipe to try camping. Imagine the faces when you serve this bursting-with-flavor chicken to your friends and family! This dish would be great cooking right on the coals from a campfire.
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