Jan 7, 2013

A MidSummer's Meal on a Midwinter's Night: Grilling Indoors

I am so excited that my friend Lindsey sent me this great post to share with you today.  Here we are with our boys and friend Meggan about this time last year.


Lindsey is very talented Mom of sweet Xander and elementary school art teacher.  She is the creative genius that made our beautiful QTO logo and I can't wait to show you guys more of her talent over the next several months with some other projects.  Thanks Lindsey for your help!

Lindsey writes:

My husband is the real cook in our family, but his work schedule doesn’t leave him much time to spend in the kitchen. The following is a crowd-pleaser that he typically grills up in our backyard or when we have guests to our river cabin.
WARNING: It is a bit spicy! However, that spicy kick is just what I needed to warm up on this chilly winter’s night.

Grilled Chicken and Roasted Red Pepper Sandwiches
This recipe is adapted from Better Homes and Gardens.
Follow my super easy steps or jump on over for the recipe:
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/chicken/chicken-and-roasted-pepper-sandwiches/

Tools:
  • Of course, you can go out and fire up your grill, but I got an awesome stovetop griddle/indoor grill as a wedding gift.
  • You may even have so fancy electric grill, BUT you can totally do this with a broiling pan in the oven.
  • Measuring cup and spoons
  • Small bowl or ramekin
  • A bowl or plastic bag for marinating
  • Marinating brush


Ingredients:
¼ cup olive oil
4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon thyme (During the summer, I grab some from the garden)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (You don’t want the chicken too thick, so either pound it out, cut it, or use 8 chicken tenders like I did.)
8 slices rustic artisan bread, 1-inch bias-cut (we love Private Select Whole Garlic Loaf)
¼ cup softened goat cheese (Even friends who said they don’t like chevre say they enjoy this)
1 red pepper (or one 7-ounce jar of roasted red peppers)
½ cup fresh basil, watercress, or baby spinach
Note: If you wanna be thrifty, buy the chicken and bread when you see them on sale, and freeze them. Then when you see goat cheese on sale or manager choice, pick up the rest of your ingredients and get grillin’.

Get Cookin’:
If you are roasting your own red pepper, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Line cookie sheet with foil.
Cut pepper in half and remove seeds.
Place halves face down on the foil and roast for 20 minutes.
When you take them out, close the foil up around them, and let them sit for 15 minutes before cutting.




For the marinade, whisk together the first 5 ingredients.
Reserve 2 tablespoons of the mixture in a small bowl or ramekin.
Place remaining marinade in a bowl or plastic bag with chicken for 15 minutes.



Preheat indoor grill to medium high and spray with oil.
OR preheat oven to broil.
Either way I cook the chicken 7-10 minutes on each side.
The internal temperature should be 160 degree when it’s done, but like most of us, I just cut a piece open to check it.

While the chicken’s cooking you can brush your bread with the reserved marinade. If you are worried that it isn't going to be enough add a touch out olive oil, but you’d be surprised how little it takes to lightly coat the bread. (DO NOT use the marinade that the raw chicken was in, silly!)


When the chicken is done throw the bread on the grill or under the broiler. WATCH IT CLOSELY if you are broiling it will take less than couple of minutes on each side.




Then just build your sammy! Bread, goat cheese, spinach, chicken, peppers, more goat cheese on the second slice if you’d like, or you can eat it as an open-faced sandwich.


Additional comments and suggestions:
  • I think this would make a great heavy hors d’oeuvre if you served it open on a smaller slice of bread and cut up the topping like bruschetta!
  • My 20 month old son enjoyed the chicken. I just made sure to scrape off any of the crushed red pepper.
  • Leftovers are great for lunch or reheated on your panini press.
Or use the chicken in a tasty salad.

Thanks so much Lindsey!

This looks so good doesn't it?  I hope your week is off to a great start!

~ Sarah

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...