Saturday, July 2, 2011

Grilled Chicken with Citrus-Basil Marinade

I have often used a citrus marinade of on our seafood and chicken.  A delicious balance of citrus and honey make it enjoyable.  But, I have never shared the recipe because I always felt that the sauce needed something to "step it up a notch".  Recently a recipe for Pineapple Citrus Chicken with Lime-Basil Glaze held the key.....basil!  I altered the marinade making it allergy-friendly and including ingredients more common to my kitchen.  I added honey to form a dressing then used that to baste my chicken at the end of cooking.  The result was so delicious that it was vulgar!


Grilled Chicken with Citrus-Basil Marinade
2 batches Citrus-Basil Dressing, omit the honey in one recipe
4- 6 chicken breasts
  1. Mix up 2 batches of my Citrus-Basil Dressing but omit the honey in one batch.
  2. Set aside 1/2 C of the dressing which contains the honey and put the remaining dressing in a gravy boat.
  3. Place the other batch of dressing in a plastic ziploc bag.
  4. Pound the chicken breasts flat until the meat is uniform, about 1/2 inch thick.
  5. Add the chicken to the bag of dressing and seal, squeezing out the air as you go.
  6. Massage the chicken, turning the bag so that the marinade covers the chicken evenly.
  7. Refrigerate for 2-8 hours, until ready to cook.
  8. Heat the grill.
  9. Cook the chicken breasts for about 7- 10 minutes on each side, until the chicken reaches a 165 degree internal temperature.
  10. Before removing the chicken from the grill (or just after if you do not want to dirty your grill with a sugary sauce), baste both sides of the breasts with the reserved Citrus-Basil Dressing.
  11. Let rest 3 minutes before serving.
  12. Goes well with Cilantro-Lime Rice and Gogoma.
Kitchen Tip:  When using the Citrus-Basil Dressing as a marinade, mix it in a large plastic ziploc bag nestled into a large Pyrex Measuring bowl.  Turn the tops over the edges of the bowl to hold the bag in place.

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