Thursday, July 23, 2009

Airline Chicken Breast with Basil Butter

Sometimes simple is better.

Tonight's menu was one of those times. Each of our 3 dishes tonight had 5 or less ingredients, not counting oil.Airline Chicken Breast with Basil Butter
This dish is from Chris Lilly's Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book that came out this year. You should buy the book because it is a great resource, but you can find this particular recipe here.

I substituted skin on boneless breasts for the "hotel cut" that Chris uses. If you don't feel like clicking on the recipe link, it's essentially chicken seasoned with salt n pepper, direct grilled and indirect roasted while basted with basil and butter. It's a fan-effing-tastic grilled chicken!

Simple Sesame Noodles (a recipe I found on BigOven years ago)
8 oz pasta noodles
1/4 c oil
1 t sesame oil
2 cloves garlic
2 T soy sauce
1 T red pepper flakes

(My mother knew this recipe so well, she didn't write any instructions)
Possibly saute garlic in oil, add the rest into the cooked oriental noodles and toss.
The instructions are only from memory. try not to quote me... yet :)

That's the recipe as posted on BigOven. We cut back on the pepper flakes and added thin strips of some red hungarian wax peppers that Alexis grew in our front yard this year. It had a spicy heat but just the right level.

Veggies on a Stick
Finally, we made some simple veggie kabobs with squash and zucchini.

I seasoned them up with salt and pepper and brushed them with balsamic vinegar while grilling on the Egg at 400f for 8 minutes.Easy and tasty, despite what George Carlan (RIP) may have said about squash!

It was a mouth watering dinner that we had fun cooking together on a summer evening. You just can't beat that.

Printable version
Simple Sesame Noodles

ON EDIT: OK, here's the story behind why Chris Lilly calls this airline chicken.
"While a skin-on chicken breast with only the drumette of the wing attached was called a “taster” in the early days of the restaurant, in the 1960s, back when commercial airlines still served real meals, they became known as “airline chicken.” Leaving a portion of the wing attached to a small chicken breast made the serving look larger while still allowing it to fit nicely into an airline food tray."