Thursday, September 15, 2011

Ginger Lime Chicken and the Past Days of Summer




Say it ain't so, the last days of summer are upon us. *Can we have a collective a moment of silence in observance of the passing of this cherished season.* Dear summer, I'm sure going to miss you, especially since I squandered most of the season of the sun literally running around like a chicken with my head cut off, toeing the line of sanity and reason, having little time rest nor blog. 'Till the next time we meet, I shall be waiting, and I'll be ready.

Anon.

As you would imagine, all things involving ginger and citrus=good summer eats. Throw in a copious amount of pestle-ground black pepper, as I am prone to do, and what you end up with is the start of something wonderful, and the perfect grilled chicken for a hot summer's day picnic the Reggae Wine Festival. 


Per my usual routine, I vastly underestimated how labor intensive hand juicing limes and shredding fresh ginger was. But as God as my witness, it was worth the effort. I only wish I had let the chicken marinate over night [and added more salt, I always under salt because you know salt in large quantities tends to kill peoples of African descent by the hundreds of thousands...], but in light of the events that proceeded this event, that wasn't a possibility.


But any flavor that was lost due to lack of maceration time, is more than made up for by the cast iron grill. Man I love that thing, it's honestly one of my most valuable kitchen items.

Ginger Lime Chicken

4 Large Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
8-10 Limes, zested and juiced
4 oz Fresh Ginger, Shredded
1 Tbsp Whole Black Peppercorns
1 clove Garlic
Sea Salt (lots)

In a mortar and pestle, roughly crush peppercorns, then add garlic clove and grind garlic into peppercorns until completely garlic is completely pulverized. Season chicken breasts with sea salt and  garlic and pepper mixture, set aside. In a bowl, combine lime juice, lime zest, and ginger. Add salt to taste. Add chicken to lime/ginger mixture, cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours, but up to 24 hours.

Coat a cast iron grill pan/or grill with vegetable oil, heat on high flame. When grill is hot, add chicken two pieces at a time, reduce heat to medium.  Grill chicken 10-12 minutes on each side, until clear grill marks have formed and juices run clear.

Remove from heat, and let cool for an hour. Slice, and refrigerate. Best served chilled, wrapped in a flour tortilla with a spoonful of roasted corn salad making it the best damn chicken taco EVER. This is fact.

And as for the Reggae Wine Festival, I don't need to tell you it was a good time.


Except, I'm going to tell you anyway that it was a really good time, in spit of the 90+ temperature, and our lack of picnic umbrella. You know what wasn't a good time? Wearing a strapless bra in that heat. Next year, I'm going braless [tmi, much?]  And I'm going to need a much bigger hat.
Odichi [big sister]. Her big hat is amazing.

Alihah [fab 5]. She's never taken a bad picture. {jelly}

Barrels o' berry wine. Personally, I think fruit wine is for children, but I drank some anyway.

Hillary [fab 5] +Joe [honorary fab 5, because we ALL love Joe]


¡Salud para el verano!

10 comments:

  1. Reggae wine festival?!  They have a festival for everything! Sounds like a great time.  My summer ended too quickly.  With all the house hunting, I didn't get to savor the last bits of summer. Oh well, here's to hoping I'll be sipping frozen margaritas and BBQ in my own yard next summer :)

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  2. Looks like an awesome time!  I'm bookmarking this recipe for future use.  I must say that I made the most of my summer and spent plenty of time in the ocean, in the sun, at baseball games, and grilling.  No complaints here!

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  3. sounds delicious. You all look great And you must have a tiny head because even with dreads you found a hat that fits your head. Even if i was bald I almost never find hats to fit my head. I do realize this is a food post but im always fascinated by people with normal sized heads

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  4. I forgot you were house hunting, that sort of stuff takes so much time. It took me all summer to find an apartment and a roommate! I'm sure you'll find the perfect house when the time is right, and then you can have a housewarming<---great excuse for gifts and boozin 8-)

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  5. It was an amazing time. There's another one in October, but I doubt i'll have time to make it for that one. I did what I could with this summer, but I'm planning on making up for lost time once I get settled after I move. I refuse to let the winter blues get met his year

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  6. lol, I actually do have a really small head, so finding hats that fit isn't a problem, lol. But at least you don't look like you have a big head, and that's what really matter, right?

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  7. Never TMI from you, I love all your posts for the frank writing. Hilarity usually ensues upon reading your blog, and that is why I always come back. Now, I learned two things I need to try. Pepper in the M&P (I need to buy one of these my last one met an early demise) and I need to use my skillet more. I have yet to really master it but clearly this just means I need to work with it more. Get out of my comfort zone a bit. 

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  8. I'm pretty much physically impossible for me not to be frank..I just can't keep all the realness bottle up, lol. And yes, you MUST try the pepper in the M&P--it's a game changer. And my love for the cast iron skillet grows everyday, it's a magical pan!

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  9. Hi Nadette, this looks amazing. I should definitely should give it a try. 

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  10. That chicken looked delicious!! And you looked that you had a great time...

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