Skip to main content

Grilled Chicken Kabobs


I don't remember why I was home, but for some reason I was home one weekday morning, watching the Today Show when Christopher Kimball from America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated/Cook's Country demoed some grilled foods.  One of which was these grilled chicken kabobs, that the teaser promised used a unique ingredient.  Not that I wouldn't have watched anyway, but I was certainly intrigued and anxiously awaiting the commercial break to end.  Upon watching the demo I thought to myself "to say unique is an understatement!".  

The folks over at Cook's Illustrated decided to keep the chicken moist, but incorporate some smoky flavor and make it hold up to the high heat of a grill they's grind up bacon for a coating.  Yep... a bacon paste.  It's bacon, and I love bacon and chicken, so I knew this would make the list.

Sadly, I lost track of the recipe, and by the time I realized it I couldn't find it on the Today Show web-Site anymore.  BUT THEN, an amazing thing started happening.  Fellow food bloggers started sharing the recipe and it was back in my life!

I've made plain grilled chicken kabobs, using the same sauce and similar seasonings, but trust me, you do not want to sub out the bacon.  It seriously takes these kabobs to a whole new level!


Grilled Chicken Kabobs
Ingredients:
Kabobs:skewers
2 lbs. boneless, skinless breasts, cut in 1" cubes
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 Tablespoons sweet paprika
4 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 slices of bacon, cut in 1/2" pieces

Sauce:
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup molasses
3 Tablespoons cider vinegar
3 Tablespoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
(If using wooden skewers make sure to soak them in water for 30 minutes)

In a large bowl toss the chicken with the salt.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes - 1 hour.

If using a gas grill turn all burners to high and heat with a closed lid for about 15-20 minutes.

Mix paprikas, sugar and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.  Process the bacon in a small food processor until a smooth paste forms.  30-45 seconds, scraping down the bowl 1-2 times during processing.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels then toss the chicken with the bacon and spice mixture.  Thread meat on to skewers.

To make the sauce whisk together all of the ingredients in a medium bowl.  Taste and season with additional salt, pepper, honey and/or hot sauce as desired.  Set aside 1/2 cup of sauce for serving.

Scrape the cooking grates clean with a grill brush.  Leave the main burner on high and turn off the other burners.  Place the kabobs over the hot burner and grill, covered.  Turn 1/4 of a turn every 2-3 minutes until well browned and slightly charred (8-10 minutes roughly).

Brush the top surface of the kebabs with 1/4 cup of sauce.  Flip and cook until sauce is browned in spots, about 1-2 minutes.  Flip again and brush with another 1/4 cup of sauce.  Continue until browned in spots and cooked through.

Remove from grill and rest for 5 minutes.  Serve with reserved sauce.

Source: Adapted from Cook's Illustrated, via Elly Says Opa

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Best Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

A fabulous vanilla cupcake recipe is something everyone needs. EVERY.ONE. Not just bakers. Not just parents that host a lot of kid parties. Everyone. I've tried several, and many have been phenomenal. Then I tried Amy Sedaris's after finding the recipe online, and it was above and beyond the best vanilla cupcake I've ever made. It was an easy batter to make, baked up beautifully, and most importantly - tasted amazing. Regardless if you have never made vanilla cupcakes and need a recipe to start with, or even if you think you have the best - give this one a shot. You will not be disappointed! Vanilla Cupcakes Ingredients: 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups flour 1 1/4 cups milk Directions: - Preheat oven to 375 degrees. - Mix butter at medium speed until smooth. Mix in sugar until well blended. - Add eggs, mixing until fully

Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker Beef Chili

I don't experiment much with chili because it rarely goes well for me and my family. I've slowly adapted my chili recipe over the years, but I've still always used canned chili beans, with a flavored sauce. I've been wanting to try regular beans (whether canned or dried, I wasn't discerning, just didn't want the sauce), so off to the Googles I went rather than trying to recreate the spice blend from my normal canned beans. Because I was originally planning to make chili in the Instant Pot, that's where I focused my search. Thankfully the recipe I decided to try was adapted from a Slow Cooker recipe, because life got in my way and I wasn't able to make the chili the night before as planned, and I wouldn't have had time to use the pressure cooker with my schedule that day. What drew me to this recipe was the simplicity of the ingredients. And lack of jalapeno. Because somehow nearly every time I plan chili I forget to buy a jalapeno, even if it

St. Louis Style Pizza (Thin and Crusty Pizza)

Pizza crust is a very personal thing.  Thin, thick, pan, deep-dish, etc.  You love what you love.  I'm a St. Louisan - I love THIN crust pizza.  Like, cracker thin!  I've tried a few different thin crust recipes , and since they're pizza they're enjoyable, but when I saw this recipe on Cook's Country while watching some old videos I knew I needed to try it immediately.  Made it a few days later and it was fantastic.  This is definitely my new go-to cracker thin pizza crust recipe. What I loved best about this recipe is that it was so simple.  A handful of ingredients, no advance prep needed, no unique ingredients, simple.  Literally anyone that can combine a few ingredients together could make this recipe.  And because you don't need to prep it in advance, you could make the dough, sauce, top it and bake the pizza on many given weeknights!  A huge win for our house! St. Louis Style Pizza (Thin and Crusty Pizza) Ingredients for two 12-inch pizzas Sauce-