Chicken breast and broccoli

[addicted-to-smoke]

** this was an experiment **

Not an excuse, just some background. (And, truth be told, as an untrained shade-tree "cook" damn near everything I do is an experiment!)

Started with 4 "chicken breast with rib meat" (bone-in). Tossed them into a 1gal bag with half a jar of (wait, while I check the spelling a 3rd time ...) Red Guajillo Chili Cooking Sauce.

<pause for effect>

Yeah I don't know what that is, either. When I opened the jar nothing special stood out. But it said it was good on seafood and poultry, unlike the blue-colored Herdez jar I also picked up that emphasized beef. And I figgered a "cooking sauce" could be a passable marinade. OK maybe not.

Anyhoo,



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The other day my next door neighbor admonished me for referring to my grills as "machines" when asking why I had "so many" (2-3 not counting the WSM) even though one of his is an OTS I sold him a few years ago and the way I see it, if ya don't get how nice they are by now, you won't ever. But just today his wife texted me, asking about the best way to start the coals and we chatted about chimneys and fire cubes etc. "You mean, I don't need lighter fluid ...?" We have responsibilities do we not, as ambassadors?

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Ooh, and just like they're done. About an hour + later at maybe 350 (400 at lid). Never touched them. @chuck s would be proud; he knows I can be a Nervous Nellie. OK maybe I did peek once.

Removed from grill and into my @austin87 -approved $2.50 SS 9X13" pan (conversation awhile back) courtesy of Goodwill!



Looks dry? Nope.





And speaking of Goodwill, the other score was a sweet SS shaker basket. Got tired of looking at it in my kitchen and loaded it up with a bag of frozen broccoli florets (a staple in our house). We normally steam ours in the top steamer portion of the rice cooker, but didn't do rice today and so I was jonesin' to try it on the grill. Didn't know if it would turn into rubber, something else, or just burn. With the handle unclipped it fits under the 22's lid if placed in the middle. I can clip and unclip the handle while it's on the grill, or pick the whole thing up by the lid handle with food inside ... I love this new toy. Very sturdy, and nicer than the $20+ stuff I've seen.


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Wait, how was the kettle setup throughout all this?

2/3 chimney of leftover lump, Kingsford, Coshell and hardwood briquets tossed into one side and a firebrick in the center between heat and chicken. (What? You don't cook with 4 kinds of charcoal at one time? Time to unclench, baby!) The lid thermo was glued to 400 for almost 2 hrs; can't complain about that with less than a full chimney of whatever.

Some mac-n-cheese the Girl made earlier snuck onto my plate!




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now for the punchline ...

Because this was the first time I'd done florets this way, and knew heat+time=yellow/ruined broccoli I was sitting with it outside. It only stayed covered for a little while. I picked it up, I SHOOK it (gotta use the FEATURE, yes?) and so on. After what seemed like "long enough" I moved the broccoli into a SS bowl and covered with foil and brought inside.

All seemed OK and I served the Boy some. "It's really cold."

WTF?

I touched the sides of the metal bowl I'd carried it back inside in. Freakin' cold. Wow, clueless, much, Mr. Griller? Also, and not unrelated, we have a microwave oven that's a good thing to own. Broccoli had a nice subtle crunch, WITH that "earthy" something that only comes from charcoal/fire cooking. So suck it, frozen veggies, you were still conquered with style.

[austin87]

Great post, I got a good laugh out of the whole thing! Chicken looks really tasty. I haven't cooked a lot of bone-in breasts but when I have they are a lot more forgiving than the boneless/skinless variety.

Glad you like the pan - lots of uses for drippings, pulling food.

[addicted-to-smoke]

And just like that I'd forgotten the center, basement-use of the 9x13" pan mentioned earlier. My main issue is that I have a mental block to getting metal dishes dirty for some reason. Glass/Pyrex, sure. (Even though it browns the glass ... oops.) Foil pans? Well OK maybe. But those are reusable if you further foil them. Never mind. I have issues.

bone-in = forgiving, yes

I've done some boneless chicken breast that was good, too, but it certainly takes more attention IMO and timing. And boneless is more expensive ... I'm a believer in cooking non-boneless chicken.

[1buckie]

Yet another in the running for "Post-of-the-Month" !!!!!

Save your nifty $2.50 stainless pan for the good stuff (pulling pork, serving prime rib slices, etc.) & use those half-hotel size for the basement......if they get a hole(s) , just use them under a new one for stability.....

PS: Let NO ONE cut anything in your nifty, new stainless $2.50 pan......

[1911Ron]

So how was the chicken?  It looks good for sure.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Chicken was cooked about as well as breast can be, so no complaints there. The marinade/cooking sauce worked well for a subtle flavor.

But of course, with chicken the real flavor often comes through on Day 2!

[Nate]

Every cook I do is an experiment too. Your chicken looks great.

[WNC]

Nice cook, and write up!

[Grill_Jitsu]

Another entertaining post.... as always! Yeah, I will pretty much use anything I can get my hands on to try marinating the chicken different.