Grill Pan

Hey everyone! I am delighted to share one of my favorite grill pan recipes. This weekend I grilled Pineapple and Ginger chicken breasts and they were simply amazing. The pineapple flavor is mellow and mild while the ginger is very distinct and powerful.

Pineapple Ginger Chicken Breast

I prepared a very simple marinade.

• 1 eight ounce can of crushed pineapple (I prefer Dole since it is packed in pineapple juice)
• 1 knob of ginger, peeled and chopped.
• ½ cup of water
• 1 tablespoon salt

Everything got mixed with my hand blender until the ginger was pretty well broken down. Ginger is so fibrous that it will never get smooth; you just want it broken down and incorporated. I put a whole boneless, skinless chicken breast in a gallon Zip-Loc, poured in the marinade and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator.
The next day I rinsed off the chicken and patted it dry. The chicken got a simple rub of paprika, chili powder and salt. The only reason I applied a rub was to give the chicken some color, all of the flavor comes from the marinade. I let the chicken warm on the counter for about ten minutes and then placed it into my grill pan that had been preheated on medium low for about five minutes. I wasn’t using my cast iron pan so I sprayed in a little Pam before I added the chicken. I placed some new aluminum foil on my brick and placed it on the thick side of the breasts.

Pressing for better grill marks.

Rubbed for a little color.

I grilled the chicken for five minutes then flipped and grilled another five. I then flipped the chicken back over and inserted a thermometer into the thickest part of the breast. The chicken cooked another eight minutes until an internal temperature of 160 was reached (18 minutes total). The aroma of the ginger was incredibly intense the entire time the chicken was grilling.

....and here is the other side!

After five minutes...

Let the meat rest for at least five minutes before slicing to let the juices redistribute. I highly recommend this as a great way to jazz up chicken breasts. I have used this same marinade with pork tenderloin with spectacular results.

Thanks for looking!

Jerk Chicken

Jerk Ingredients

• ½ tsp ground allspice
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground garlic
• ½ tsp brown sugar
• ½ tsp lemon pepper
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 small habenero pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
• Juice from one lime
• 1 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1Tbs soy sauce

Everything was added to a small food processor and pulsed until a smooth paste was obtained.  I put a whole boneless, skinless chicken breast (1.5 lbs) in a one gallon Ziploc bag and poured in the jerk paste.  The paste was massaged onto the chicken and rested in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day I took the chicken out of the marinade and used paper towels to dry it off.  I wanted to remove the moisture from the surface, not the seasonings, so I just gently pressed paper towels onto the meat.

Dried and ready for the grill.

I preheated my grill pan for five minutes on medium heat and then added the chicken.  One of the tricky parts about cooking chicken breasts is that they are extremely uneven.  One side is very thick and cooks slower than the slender end.  By the time the breast is done in the thickest part it is often overcooked and dry everywhere else.  My approach to this problem is to bring out my old foil wrapped brick and use it as a press on the thick part of the breast.  This helps the thick part cook faster while laying down some excellent grill marks at the same time.

Press the thick side of the breast for even cooking.

I grilled the chicken for six minutes, flipped and grilled the other side for six minutes.  When I flipped the chicken I also flipped the brick as I didn’t want the side that had been in contact with the raw chicken to come into contact with the cooked chicken.  After twelve minutes the internal temperature of the thick part of the breast was 150 degrees.  I flipped the chicken and cooked for another three minutes then flipped and cooked for another three.  After 18 minutes of grilling the chicken was at 160 degrees and perfectly cooked.   Great grill marks and very juicy all the way through.

Grilled to perfection!

You can serve this as an entrée for two or you can slice it up and use as a topping for just about anything.  I ended up making a salad for one meal and some tacos for another.

Jerk Chicken Salad

I am going to change up my jerk paste the next time I make this.  This will be better using fresh ginger and garlic instead of powdered.  I will also use a large habenero instead of a small one as the heat level was much lower than I expected.

By the way, if you make this recipe be sure to throw away the foil on your brick after you are done cooking.

This recipe uses boneless, skinless chicken thighs and a margarita marinade.  The thighs take up a lot of room while cooking so you will need to either use a double burner grill pan or work in batches with your single burner pan.  The thighs grill up pretty quick so working in batches shouldn’t be a problem.

• ½ cup fresh lime juice
• 1 oz orange juice
• 1 oz good tequila (Sauza, Patron, etc)
• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs

Trim any large deposits of excess fat from the chicken thighs and place in a 1 quart zip top plastic bag.  Add the lime and orange juice along with the tequila to the zip top bag, set the bag into a large bowl and then into the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Remove the thighs from the marinade and pat them dry with a paper towel.  Lightly oil the thighs (a quick spray with a non-stick cooking oil would work fine) and season with salt and pepper.  Allow the oiled chicken to rest at room temperature for about fifteen minutes.

Preheat your grill pan on medium low for five minutes.

Add the thighs to the grill pan and cook four minutes per side flipping only once.  Make sure than when you add the thighs to the pan that the entire side is exposed to the grill. I have found that if you start with the side of the thigh that would have been the “skin side” down that the grilling is much easier.  The “bone side” of the thighs is often pretty mangled and all the loose dangly bits can stick to the grill easier than the relatively smooth surface provided by the “skin side”.  By the time it is time to flip the “bone side” has usually firmed up a little.

After the thighs have grilled for eight minutes remove them from the pan.  The thighs are great when topped with salsa and served with sides of yellow rice and refried beans. You could also slice up some onions and peppers, coat with oil, salt and pepper and grill them up for a chicken fajita dinner.