Grilled Chicken Breasts

[Episure]

Some years ago my ex( she was mostly vegetarian) barged into the kitchen and saw me flattening some chicken breasts with a mallet. She exclaimed "It's already dead, why are you beating it up! "

A few months later she saw me injecting marinade and said "Oh, change of heart! thank god you've decided to cure them". I said 'cure' is right but not in the way you think.

For those interested, my marinade was light cream, turmeric, paprika, saffron infusion and then cooked with garlic butter in my grill pan.

[Toliver]

I am very interested in the discussion upthread on 'injecting'.  I was discussing this possibility with a friend recently, who promptly burst out laughing and said he couldn't wait to hear how I got on when I went into the local pharmacy to ask for a needle.  Any advice on this issue?

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Not sure of the availability of "injector kits" in Ireland...but I was surprised to see them yesterday at my local grocery store here in California. They were in the barbecue aisle and came wrapped with the bottle of marinade. Before this, you would usually just find them in BBQ accessory stores.

Here is a web site that sells them.

Note that you may not want to go the route of using for-human-type syringes to marinate your meat. Marinade injectors typically have a larger hole in the needle since some marinades may contain more than just liquid.

As for the original question about a good marinade, here is a recipe that my brother's mother-in-law always uses. It's a secret recipe so don't tell anyone you heard it from me.

The MIL is known for this secret recipe and won't give the recipe out to anyone, not even to any of her kids. If they want something marinaded, they have to bring the meat to her and she marinates it and then they pick it up, take the meat home and BBQ it. The MIL uses it for chicken but also uses it for shish-kebabs which are always a huge hit at family get-togethers (you marinate not just the meat, but the hardier veggies, too).

So one day my mom asks the MIL for the marinade recipe and the MIL gives it to her, thinking "it's just between us." A few months later, my mom forgets that the recipe is a secret and submits it to her retirees assocation fund raiser "community cookbook"!

Which is where I got the recipe. Here it is:

Primi's Secret Marinade

2 to 3 lb.'s good quality meat

1 & 1/3 cups soy sauce

1 & 1/3 cups 7-Up (yes, the soda pop...substitute no other brand)

1 cup white wine

5 tablespoons brown sugar (heaping, not level)

The juice of one small lemon

4 to 5 cloves of garlic, crushed

1-inch of ginger root, crushed

1 bay leaf, crushed

Ground Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients except withhold 1/3 cup of the soy sauce, 1/3 cup of the 7-Up and 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar. Add these to adjust the flavor of the marinade to your liking.

Add meat to the marinade and chill it overnight in the refrigerator. Drain meat before grilling.

[YoChefGregg]

A quick dry rub that is quite nice is McCormick's, Montreal Steak Seasoning. Use a liberal amount. With chicken breasts, cook over a very hot fire and watch closely, don't cook to 165ºF, or the breast will be completely dried out.

[Ann_T]

I have two favourite ways to grill chicken breasts. The first, and the one that my son always requests when he comes over to visit from Victoria is Chicken Souvlaki. (I think I might make this for dinner tonight) No real recipe. I just cut boneless chicken breasts in to cubes and rub with a mixture of fresh garlic, oregano, fresh ground black pepper, salt and fresh squeezed lemon juice. I sometimes thread onions and green peppers on the skewer but not always.

And the second favourite is boneless chicken breasts flattened and rubbed fresh garlic, dijon mustard , salt, pepper , fresh lemon juice and a splash of olive oil.