Buffalo Chicken Smash Burger

 [FTC Standard Disclosure] We received no compensation for this post. 

I've been enjoying smash burgers lately, and something occurred to me. I don't recall seeing smash burgers made from ground chicken. It sounded good, so I decided to give the idea a whirl on Saturday while our favorite college teams played basketball. 

Buffalo chicken smash burgers are spicy and fun gameday food.

They were slightly crispy, spicy, and absolutely delicious; we both loved them. If tomatoes were in season, I would definitely add a slice but hothouse tomatoes in the Winter just make my taste buds sad. I almost added some bacon but thought it might overpower the flavor of the chicken. I'll make them this same way again, no doubt. 

Tips for Working with Ground Chicken

Raw ground chicken isn't as easy to work with as its beef counterpart. Here are a few tips to make the process go more smoothly.

• Ground chicken is extremely tender, almost mushy. Keep it quite cold until the last minute.
• Wash your hands with cold water before handling the chicken.
• Ground chicken tries to stick to anything that it touches, so I spray my burger press and deli sheets with spray oil (Pam, etc.). 
• Ground chicken is bland, so don't be shy with the seasonings.

Here's what we did.

Buffalo Chicken Smash Burgers

Grilled Chicken Piccata

I love the intense flavor of chicken piccata - the briny taste of capers and the bright pop of citrus makes my taste buds dance.

Alexis and I went to dinner with our neighbors at Cappucino's here in Knoxville a few weeks ago.  I got Chef Frank Aloise's piccata, and it inspired me to fire up a batch at home.

The problem with grilled chicken piccata is that grilling doesn't give you the sucs (brown bits left if the pan) to make a good pan sauce, which is the base of piccata.  Here are a few workarounds for that.

Grilled Chicken Pita on the Big Green Egg

[FTC Standard Disclosure]  I received no compensation for this post.

I have been on a Middle Eastern food kick lately so Alexis and I made these fantastic Chicken Pitas with Tzatziki last week.  I marinated the chicken with a spicy oregano vinaigrette and then grilled it to perfection - juicy and bursting with flavor.

I blame my Middle Eastern cravings on Knoxville's own Yassin's Falafel House.  Yassin's has a message of inclusivity and tolerance and won Reader's Digest's Nicest Place in America last year.  They also happen to make insanely good falafel and one of the best gyros I have ever had.

We ate at the Yassin's in West Knoxville last week, and it was fabulous as always.  The next night, I was still craving Middle Eastern delights, so we whipped up these pitas.

Recipe Cook: Spiralized Vietnamese Cucumber Salad.....with Chicken!

[FTC Standard Disclosure]  I received no compensation for this post.

Leave it to me to add meat to a vegetarian dish.

Like everyone, Alexis and I are trying to eat a little healthier as we get older.  Last night, we were going to make this Vietnamese Cucumber Noodle Salad from the May 2019 issue of Eating Well magazine.  It is spiralized cucumbers and carrots tossed in a version of nuoc cham and topped with cilantro and peanuts.  I just had to add some grilled chicken breast.  

I wanted to give the chicken a little Asian flair, but I didn't have time for a marinade, so I improvised.  I used Albukirky Green Chile Rub, which is Southwestern US, but with salt, pepper, chiles, and garlic, it isn't too big a stretch for Asian.  I took 1 tablespoon of the rub and added a 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger and 1/4 teaspoon of Olde Virden's Spicy Verde for heat.  I seasoned two butterflied chicken breasts with that, and the flavor was passable as Asian.

My "weapon of choice" for this small cook was the Big Green Egg Mini-Max.  A small kamado (13-14") grill is perfect for small amounts like this, plus the grill heats up quickly and doesn't use much coal at all.  

My set up was a Kick Ash Basket full of Parker's Tennessee Hardwood Charcoal, a woo ring, and a stock BGE cast iron grate. 

 

I grilled the butterflied chicken breasts halves for about 6 minutes a side at 450°f until they registered 155°f on my Thermapen.  Butterflied thin like this, they will cook all the way through on the carryover cooking, so I pull them a bit early to keep them juicy.

So we made the salad as written and just topped it with this spicy grilled chicken.

I'm not a huge fan of cucumber, but this was surprisingly good.  I want to use the cucumber noodles and make some kind of gyro salad with some seasoned ground beef, shaved red onion, and tzatziki sauce.

Golden Pineapple Mango Glazed Chicken

[FTC standard disclaimer]  I received no compensation for this post.  Some of the links are Amazon affiliate links.  I do have a business relationship with Oklahoma Joe's, but none of that involves promoting them on my blog or social media.  

My first career was in the retail grocery industry, and I started in high school.  I loved working in the produce and meat departments because there was so much to learn as a teenager.  Back then, for a chicken to be considered a fryer, it had to be 3 1/2 pounds or less.  These days, most fryers start about 4 1/2 pounds and can run over 6 pounds.

I was happy to find a 3 1/2 pound Gerber Amish Farms Chicken at my Food City* this past weekend. I didn't know what I was going to do with it until I got home and rummaged through the refrigerator.  I found some Tropicana Pineapple Mango with Lime drink and thought it would make a good poultry glaze.  I was right.

The glaze is sweet with the citrus tang you would expect.  It is mouthwatering good on grilled chicken and tastes like Summer.  It also creates a beautiful golden color on the chicken.

Golden Pineapple Mango Glazed Chicken

Makes about 1 cup

Smoky Mountain Chicken Sandwich

[FTC Standard Disclaimer]  No compensation was received for this post. 

Fired up one of the Big Green Eggs tonight to grill these Smoky Mountain Chicken Sandwiches.

Typically, a Smoky Mountain chicken sandwich or burger is topped with bacon, BBQ sauce, and cheddar.  I'm not sure how, when, or where this divine trinity became associated with the name "Smoky Mountain".  I have just seen it that way on countless menus.

I went in a bit different direction, but I used the same smoky-sweet-cheesy profile for this game day sandwich.  My secret ingredients were two local Tennessee products, fitting since they live in the shadows of the Smoky Mountains. 

Reload Rub and Seasoning Double Action Sweet and Smoky BBQ Blend

Alexis found this rub at Elder's Ace Hardware. It has a very balanced BBQ rub flavor, featuring things like sea salt, turbinado sugar, powdered molasses, dried onions, dried garlic, and chiles. 

Blackberry Farm Smoked Onion Jam

Yes, THAT Blackberry Farm!  This sweet smoky jam is made with sweet onions, smoked onions, cane sugar, and a few other ingredients.  The flavor is otherworldly. 

Stir-Fired Cajun Chicken Pasta

This is what happens when you get culinarily bored.  I combined a Cajun chicken recipe with stir-frying techniques (aka stir firing on the grill) to come up with this creamy and delicious Stir Fried Cajun Chicken Pasta.

I started with this Cajun Chicken Pasta recipe from BigOven as a jumping off place and changed the ingredients for my preferences or what I had in supply.  I decided on stir-frying because the ingredients suit that style of cooking and stir-frying on the grill is fun.

Remember that stir-frying happens at a frenetic pace.  Mise en place* is especially important with this "blink and it's done" type of cooking.  This includes the tools you will need, in this case, grill mitts, wooden spatulas, and maybe a set of tongs.  

Stir Fried Cajun Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, sliced stir-fry style
• 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning (divided)  I used my NMT Cajun Beef Rub recipe
• 1.5 teaspoons Kosher salt (divided)
• 2-3 tablespoons peanut or other high temp cooking oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 red bell pepper, julienned 
• 1 poblano chile, julienned 
• 1 sweet onion, julienned 
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
• 1 lb rotini pasta, cooked according to directions
• Slurry made of 1 tablespoon cold water and half tablespoon or cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
• Parmesan or Pecorino-Romano cheese finely grated for garnish

Instructions

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken - A Grilling Classic

[FTC Standard Disclaimer] This is not a sponsored post; however, some Char-Broil products are shown and they are a sponsor. 

There are certain grilling recipes that everyone has done, right?  Several come to mind.

• Chicken parts marinated in Italian dressing
• Burgers stuffed with more add ins than meatloaf
• Steaks marinated in a red wine, olive oil, and soy sauce concoction

Grilled teriyaki chicken is one of those, I think.  Who hasn't marinated chicken with a bottled teriyaki sauce? Here's how we do ours.

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken 

Servings: 4 servings

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

[FTC Standard Disclaimer]  No compensation was received for this post.

This was a quickie that we cooked the other night. Storms were moving in and I just wanted something quick and easy for dinner so we made grilled chicken sandwiches.

They were nothing fancy, just quick.  If you want something a bit more evolved, check out these other chicken sandwiches we've made.

• Blackened Chicken Sandwich with Cajun Slaw
• Grilled Cajun Chicken Sandwich with Kickin' Slaw
• Jerk Chicken Sandwich with Shoestring Sweet Potato Fries

But here is how I made this chicken sandwich.

I took 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves and butterflied them. Then I seasoned them liberally on both sides with some Pork U Masters Degree rub.

Smoked Chicken Salad - Lower Calorie Version

We're trying to eat a little better at our house with 3 different goals.

• One of us is trying to eat more heart healthy.
• One of us is trying to eat to lose weight.
• One of us is trying to eat high protein, low fat for athletic training.

Hint....the last one is neither Alexis nor I! 

We love chicken salad but our usual recipe for that does not exactly fit any of those three categories. Most of the fat comes from mayonnaise so we cut the fat by using a blend of light mayonnaise and non-fat Greek yogurt instead.  The light mayo alone could cut about half of the fat from regular mayo.  But by mixing in the non-fat Greek yogurt and light mayo, we cut about 310 calories from fat compared to the chicken salad made with regular mayo.  

I'm good with that.

Lighter Smoked Chicken Salad

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped smoked chicken
• 1/2 cup diced sweet onion
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 1 ounce Dukes Mayonnaise Light
• 1 ounce non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon juice from grilled lemon
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flake

Instruction

1. Place all ingredients into a food processor and pulse several times until you get the texture that you like.  
2. Eat it.  That's it.

John and I were smoking a bunch of pork butts and beef ribs on the Deep South Smokers GC36.  Since we already had it running, we threw some chicken in there too.  We love how this thing cooks.

For chicken salad, we smoked a blend of bone in split breasts and bone in thighs.  After smoking, we pull off the skin and pull the chicken into chunks like this.  

Ready to make our chicken salad.  The red pepper flake was added later after we tasted.  It just gave the chicken salad that pop it needed.

If our figures are correct, this works out to about 128 calories per half cup serving.  

Summer Favorite: Tequila Chicken Salad with Lime Shallot Vinaigrette

[FTC Standard Disclaimer]  I received no compensation for this post. Char-Broil is a sponsor and I received my Signature Series grill as part of an overall compensation package but this is not a sponsored post.  I have no affiliation with Smoking Goat Farms, Coning Farms, Horntos tequila, or Thunderbird Wings.

We are trying to eat a bit healthier at our house.  I'm trying to eat more "heart healthy".  Alexis is focusing on weight loss/maintenance.  Trevor is in training for football and wanting low fat/high protein foods.  As a result, we are eating a bunch of lean beef, lean pork, and a lot of grilled chicken.

One of my favorite Summer grilled chicken dishes is grilled tequila chicken.  The peppery bite of the tequila and the tang of the citric acid wake up the chicken flavors.  Tequila chicken is excellent as an entree, served in tortillas, or on salads like we did for this one yesterday.  

Tequila Chicken Salad with Lime Shallot Vinaigrette

Chicken Lollipops or Frenched Chicken Drumsticks

The humble chicken leg doesn't get much attention. That's funny because when we were kids, a drumstick was usually a preferred option.  I think that's mainly because kids love food with a handle. Frenching a chicken leg is a great way to elevate the chicken leg to something a little edgy, like a food truck might serve.  It might be adult food but the kid in you will still love the handle.

Frenching is a technique where tissues are cut away, exposing the bone for a fancier presentation. Usually it is simply for appearance sake, as with pork, veal or lamb chops.  But frenching a chicken leg is more than just an appearance treatment.  When you french a chicken leg, you are also removing tendons and compacting the meat, making a more juicy and enjoyable bite.

I first learned this technique from Danielle Bennett, aka DivaQ.  DivaQ is one of my biggest influences along with Chris Lilly and Adam Perry Lang.  She has coached me not only on BBQ but also social media and building a personal brand.  Plus, she has more freaking energy and determination of anyone I have ever worked with.  Anyway, she came out with a great book this year and she has a recipe for Chicken Lollipops in it, you should check it out.  [My review of her book]

I used Malcolm Reed's technique for trimming the chicken lollipops.  

You will need a good pair of kitchen sheers and a sharp knife.  A tool that I figured out is incredibly helpful for trimming the tendons is a pair of locking forceps.  I think I got this pair from a unused suture removal kit that I got after a surgery.  You can buy them at hobby stores or online for just a few bucks. 

One tip from me - make two passes around with your knife. You'll cut through the meat and skin rather easily but those tendons are tough, slippery, and have a way of hiding in the grooves.

Trying to hold onto the tendons for snipping with the scissors was frustrating until I figured out to use the forceps.  It holds those slippery things securely and then I lift the leg by that tendon, making it easier to snip with the scissors. No more chasing tendons as they slip out of my grip while trying to snip. Great "light bulb" moment for me.

All lined up and ready to go.

Seasonings:  The first batch this weekend was a base coat of my poultry rub and then a coat of Meat Church Honey Hog.  That came across as a touch too salty (not bad, but on the edge) so the second batch was Honey Hog by itself. 

This is one of the Honey Hog only legs.  You can visibly see why I love this as a general purpose BBQ rub.  

This cook was on one of our large Big Green Egg's indirect at 375°f until it they hit an internal temp of around 165°f.  Then it's time to sauce and go back on.

I made a honey-bourbon-roasted garlic BBQ sauce using DivaQ's Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce from her book.  I subbed our roasted garlic for garlic. I added 1/2 cup of local honey, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, and 2 tablespoons of single batch bourbon.

Dipping the chicken instead of brushing it on is a trick from competition BBQ. 

Legs and thighs should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 175°f.  I like going to 180°f for legs - they can handle it and still be succulent.  My favorite instant read thermometer is my Thermapen.  Yeah, I still use versions 1 and 2 and they are dated (2 newer models out) but I think that's a testament to how well these things are built.  I don't HAVE to buy a new one every time they update their models. [FTC Disclaimer: No compensation for that statement and I am not an affiliate seller of Thermoworks products, just my opinion.]

If I was doing a food truck menu, this would probably be on there.  Chicken lollys and corn on the cob.

These were fantastic.  It had that old school, Southern BBQ chicken flavor with a fancier presentation and a bolder, modern taste.

[FTC Standard Disclaimer] I received no compensation for this post.  

Book Review: Diva Q's Barbecue

Diva Q’s Barbecue – 

195 Recipes for Cooking with Family, Friends, and Fire

Danielle “DivaQ” Bennett

Appetite by Random House

$14.01 as of 4/14/2016

I pre-ordered Diva Q’s Barbecue as soon as it became available online last Thanksgiving because I knew it was going to be a great grilling/BBQ book.  After months of waiting, I finally got my grubby little hands on it and it is every bit as good as I anticipated.

You might know Danielle “DivaQ” Bennett from her show, BBQ Crawl, which has run for the past three years.  Or you might know her from her multiple other televised appearances, from local news shows to BBQ Pitmasters.  Or you might know her from her many competition BBQ victories including a World Championship at the Jack Daniels World Championship Barbecue a few years ago.  I have had the pleasure of knowing her through the BBQ Brethren many years ago and then getting to work with her on a mutual client for the past few years.  Danielle is one of the most talented, passionate, and competitive pitmasters that I know and all of that energy is reflected in her book.

Physical Description

The book is softcover and is medium sized (8x10).  It “weighs in” at 288 pages of photos, recipes, tips, and other great information.  The format is nicely laid out making it easy to read and use.  I like that she uses “call out boxes” to bring attention to important tips throughout the book.  The organization of the book is the typical BBQ book breakouts of BBQ basics, main meats by category, sides, desserts, and a few other chapters.  It’s the content of those sections that sets the book apart.

Recipes

Diva Q’s Barbecue is loaded with 195 recipes.  The difficulty level is varied, from beginner to advanced, so that everyone can take something away from using the book.  Danielle cooks on a variety of grills and smoker so these recipes aren't central to one type of cooker.

·         Six Recipes You Need To Know – DivaQ gives you a few recipes to get you going right out of the gate.  I’m glad to see the reverse sear in there.

·         Rubs, Sauces, Slathers, and Spices – This chapter alone is worth the price of this book.  Twenty six of DivaQ’s favorite go to sauces and seasonings are shared.  It has basics like Memphis Rib Rub and Kansas City Rub to more exotic rubs like Spicy Thai Rub or Moroccan Spice Rub.  The sauce recipes are top notch as well. 

·         Fired Up Appetizers and Shareables – The chapter is the social butterfly of the book, with it’s fun “here have some of this” type of recipes.  Chipotle Devilled Eggs with Pig Candy and Cold-Smoked Cheddar-Pimento Cheese?  Yes please! She has pizzas, kale chips, salsa, and tons of one bite apps that are sure to please.

·         Praise the Pig – All about pork, this chapter shares DivaQ’s World Championship Winning Pulled Pork recipe and 21 other killer recipes for chops, cheeks, steaks, and belly.  I’m proud to have one of my recipes featured in this chapter – Pork Tenderloin with Thai Peanut Sauce.  If you really want to kick it up, use her Thai rub on that one.

·         Bacon Bonanza – Bacon delights here, DivaQ hits on classics like Pig Candy and ABT’s while delving in to sheer bacon madness with things like Grilled Poutine and Bacon, Bacon wrapped Cadbury eggs (you read that right), and Smoked Brisket Bombs.

·         Beef It Up – Diva dishes her secrets on a perfect scoring 180 Brisket.  She also gives recipes for herb crusted Prime rib, herbed beef tenderloin, shiitake chuck roast and more.

·         Fowl Play – From Smoked Crispy Duck to Brie and Spinach Stuffed Chicken, DivaQ covers it all.  Her jerk chicken sounds right up my alley and I thought the Roadside chicken was very tasty.

·         Gone Fishin’ – I’m not a big fish person, but this section still looks impressive with selections like Blackened Cajun Salmon, Mahi Mahi Sliders, and Grilled Tuna Steak Tacos.

·         Sizzling Sides – Danielle grills up some out of the ordinary sides like Smookin’ Good Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon Butter. The Grilled Artichokes with Smoked Aioli are on my list for this summer as are the Candied Smoked Carrots.

·         Salads, Slaws, and Breads – Kind of an eclectic collection but loaded with drool worthy recipes, such as; Grilled Panzanella Salad, Creamy Carrot Slaw, and the Best-Ever Buttermilk Biscuits. 

·         Sweet Smoke – Danielle excels at dessert, she is well known for killing that category in contests.  There are lots of recipes in this chapter but there’s only one that I need to know and that is the famed Death by Diva.  It has scored a perfect 180 at multiple contests.  It’s a little fruit, cheese cake, brownie and more.

DivaQ's Roadside Chicken - I did mine raised direct on a kamado grill while she did hers indirect.  Both ways work, I just like my roadside chicken over the fire because that's the way they did it at my dad's company picnics when I was a kid.  

Excellent flavor and I didn't have to wait for marinating like I do on my other favorite roadside chicken recipe.  Of course, now I want to try them together - the marinade and Danielle's baste.  That will be intense!

I tried Danielle's Montreal seasoning recipe on a very nice ribeye steak for lunch one afternoon.

I finally got to try Diva Q's Diablo Sauce.  The only thing I did different was I used roasted garlic in mine, just because I had it on hand.

 

Making the sauce outdoors on the sideburner.

Simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon like this.  We liked it smooth so I had used an immersion blender before this picture.

I did this one on my Char-Broil Gas2Coal grill and a set of GrillGrates.  It's a dual fuel grill but in this case, I used the gas assist to light the coals.

This was some lunch!  The Diablo Sauce doesn't knock you over with heat, it's more on the back end, but it's definitely there.  

The recipe for Kansas City style BBQ sauce is an easy and fantastic base recipe for a sweet BBQ sauce like most people enjoy.  We liked it so much that we used it on a small catering gig we did.

Photography

The photography in Danielle’s book does a good job of telling the story of her passion for BBQ.  The book is loaded with high quality, color photographs.  Ken Goodman was the main photographer but there were also contributions from Robert Jacob Lerma, Doug Barlow, and Alena Dudaeva.  The pictures of finished and plated foods gives the reader an excellent understanding of what they are shooting for.  I would have liked to see more “how to” or “step by step” pictures but considering this book is already at 195 recipes and almost 300 pages, I understand that space was an issue.

Summary

This is easily my favorite grilling/BBQ book so far this year.  Who is it for?  Just about anyone that grills. It gives newbies an arsenal of information to get them up and firing on all cylinders quickly.  When someone asks me what 1 or 2 BBQ books they should buy because they are just starting out, Diva Q’s Barbecue will be on the short list that I give them.  But even seasoned grillers will gain a lot from this book – I bought a copy for my sister who is a hard core Egger.

Then there’s the price.  I don’t know if it’s some kind of Canadian to US currency exchange issue (kidding) but $14.01 for a book of this quality and usefulness is an absolute steal!  I’d gladly pay $25 or more for this book. 

Brass tax is this:  This book needs to be a part of your grilling and BBQ arsenal. 

Ranking

5 stars – an absolute resource, will refer to frequently

4 stars – good cookbook with value added tips, photos, guides, and other content

3 stars – Good, average cookbook, glad to have it on my shelf

2 stars – a recipe collection

1 star – would give it away to someone else to get rid of it, but only if I didn't like them very much

[Standard FTC Disclaimer]  Danielle did give me a copy of the book but I also paid full price for a few copies and I did not receive any other compensation. I received the Char-Broil Grill2Coal as part of a sponsorship from Char-Broil. The opinions I have given are absolutely my own.  

Sriracha Orange Sauce for Grilling, Stir Fry, and More

It has been Sriracha sauce week this week (March 7-13).  I'm sorry I didn't get you a greeting card but I got you this delicious grilling, stir fry, and more sauce instead.

For the Sriracha sauce, we just used the popular Rooster sauce by Huy Fong.  You can see that trademark red bottle and green cap in the background.

I was instantly inspired for this sauce at breakfast a few weeks ago.  It's All So Yummy Cafe in Knoxville is our favorite locally owned sandwich, soup, and ice cream place.  Their grilled sandwiches are amazingly good, their soups made from scratch, and their ice cream flavors are creative.  A few weeks ago they started opening for breakfast and Alexis got the Big Orange Stacker.

The Big Orange Stacker from It's All So Yummy Cafe.  They are open for breakfast on Saturdays now.  If you're in Knoxville, check them out.

It's a tower of homemade buttermilk biscuits, avocado, swiss cheese, fresh tomatoes, fried egg, crisp bacon, and an orange sriracha sauce.  I reached over to her plate and dabbed my pinky into the sauce for a little taste.  Damn, I never knew my pinky finger tasted so good. I came home and whipped up this version of the sauce that afternoon.

This sauce is powerful with bold sweetness, a sharp citrus twang, and the mild complex heat of Sriracha.  This sauce is fantastic brushed onto grilled chicken or shrimp in the last few minutes of cooking.  I think it would work on pork tenderloins or BBQ ribs for something different.  It is dynamite mixed with a little soy sauce and tossed with stir fried chicken for Orange Chicken.  I even used it to make a bright citrus vinaigrette.  

We have tried 5 different brands of orange marmalade for this, from Smucker's off of the shelf to small batch versions that have to be mail ordered.  For off of the shelf, Smucker's worked better than the more expensive gourmet brands at the store.  But the hands down winner for this recipe was Sarabeth's Blood Orange Marmalade.  It has a much more organic texture, you can actually pour it, compared to pretty much all of the rest that are gelatinous marmalades that you have to spoon out of the jar.  The major difference was taste, the sweetness seems more natural from the oranges than added sugar.  

Our preferred marmalade after trying several.

I couldn't wait to try it so I grilled a couple of chicken breasts on the BGE Mini-Max kamado grill.  It was excellent, exactly what I was looking for. 

This past weekend was gorgeous and Springlike, so I rolled out the Kettleman grill to do some "old school" grilling like when I first started barbecuing.  

A kamado grill is my preferred weapon of choice so people are sometimes curious why I use different grills, if the kamado grill is really that good.  In business there's a saying that if the only tool in your toolbag is a hammer, you treat every opportunity as a nail.  Same with grilling, I like to use a variety of grills because:

1. it challenges my skill set,
2. it helps me keep an open mind,
3. it helps me connect better with my audience - only about half are kamado users, the rest are using kettles, gas grills, and such, 
4. and most importantly, sometimes I just feel like it.  

Sponsorships?  Sure, it's nice to have them but I have used a variety of grills (Brinkman SnP, Brinkmann Professional Charcoal Grill, Smoke Hollow gas/coal combo unit, and more) since the start of this blog and long before sponsorships were rolling in.  

I used about 1/2 chimney of briquettes.

I made a simple rub of 1 tablespoon salt, 1/2 tablespoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt, 1 teaspoon granulated garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley.

I spritzed 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves with spray butter and then seasoned them with the rub.  The butter acts as a binder for the rub but also oils the meat to help prevent sticking and get a nice crust.

I arranged the coals in a single layer and left room for an indirect area.

My target for grilling chicken breasts, whether grilling on a kamado or kettle, is in the 350-400°F.

If I'm doing thick breasts (not butterflied), I typically do about 6 minutes per side directly over the hot coals.

 

After 12 total minutes, I brush them with the sauce on both sides and then shift the chicken to the indirect area that is not directly over the coals.  I close the grill lid and let them finish cooking until they hit an internal temp of 160°f.  That's usually about 10 minutes.

The indirect heat bakes the sauce on without burning it.

Since we were putting this chicken on salads, I let them sit for 15 minutes or the hot meat would wilt the lettuce and veggies.

We had sauce leftover so I decided to whisk up a vinaigrette for our salad with the sauce.

Sriracha Orange Vinaigrette

1/3 cup Sriracha Orange Sauce

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce

2/3 cup olive oil

Mix together the sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, and Sriracha.  Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking vigorously.  Or briskly.  Whatever your whisking style is, just do it fast and the oil slow.

We put together a salad of mixed greens and Swiss chard, onions, avocado, Mandarin orange segments, homemade bacon, and rice noodles.  Then we sliced the chicken breast and topped that with the vinaigrette.

I still call this bunny rabbit food, but it's damn good bunny rabbit food!  

Sriracha Wings

Speaking of Sriracha Week, our friends Brian and Marilyn at Hot Sauce Daily posted this recipe post for Garlic Sriracha Chicken Wings based on one of our favorite wing recipes by Michael Symon. Click on over there to check it out.

Sriracha....BEER?

Also, did you know that there is a Sriracha beer?  Rouge Ale and Spirits has brought to market a Sriracha flavored stout beer.  The tell-tale rooster and green cap are a nod to Huy Fong's brand of Sriracha sauce.

I like beer but I'm not sure that this one is for me.  I mean I'd try one if you had it in your fridge but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy one.  How about you - would you try it?

Happy Sriracha Week!  Errrr....well there's only 2 days left.  Happy Sriracha Weekend! 

[FTC Standard Disclaimer]  I received no compensation for this post.  We paid full price for the Sarabeth marmalade and Rooster sauce.  I bought the BGE Mini-Max.  I got the Char-Broil Kettleman as part of my sponsorship package last year.  I have no affiliation with Huy Fong or Rogue Ale.