Showing posts with label Dinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dinner. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers



Recipe via Our Best Bites
This is one of my favorite fun foods, especially because you can serve it as an appetizer or as a meal.  It's a twist on Teriyaki chicken. These can be grilled,or can be done in your oven.

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
About 8 oz. lean bacon, NOT thick-sliced (thick bacon is too hard to work with in this recipe)
1 large can pineapple chunks (you won't use all of them)
Homemade Teriyaki sauce (the best!) or Kikkoman Teriyaki Baste and Glaze
Kebab skewers or toothpicks

Now...the easiest way to handle the bacon situation is to remove it from the package and while it's still all stuck together, stretch it out a little (lengthwise). If you're using center-cut bacon (and the "slab" is not as wide as regular bacon), just cut it in half. Otherwise, use kitchen shears to cut the slab into thirds. Refrigerate until ready to use, partially because it's easier to work with cold bacon and partially because you don't want to kill any dinner guests with dead pig germs.

Using kitchen shears, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. You can gauge about how many pieces you'll need by how many pieces of bacon you have; you probably won't use all the bacon, but you'll need about 8 oz. or 2/3 of a standard-sized package of bacon. So count the bacon pieces and keep that in mind when cutting up your chicken.

Drain the pineapple and set up a little work station with skewers, bacon, chicken, and a 9x13 baking dish (for big skewers) or a sturdy Ziploc bag (for toothpick skewers). Wrap a piece of bacon around a chicken piece, secure with toothpick/skewer, and top with a chunk of pineapple. Repeat twice if using large skewers.
 
For appetizer skewers*, I do one piece of meat topped with one chunk of pineapple on a toothpick. If you decide to grill these, your life will be a lot easier if you use a disposable grill pan. For meal-sized skewers, I do three chunks of pineapple alternated with three pieces of meat on the long skewers and allow two skewers per person.
 
 


Monday, September 27, 2010

Honey Lime Enchiladas





Trade Secrets: I followed Brittany’s recipe closely, the only modifications being the addition of cream to the remaining enchilada sauce to add a bit of depth and creaminess. Since the chicken was cooked while marinating, I also poured the leftover marinade into the enchilada sauce and cream to blend all the flavors together. And finally, I added a bit more lime juice than the original recipe because that’s what my lime produced! Next time (because there WILL be a next time), I might saute some onions and garlic and add that to the chicken mixture.
Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
recipe via Kitchen Cafe
6 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons lime juice (1 large lime)
1 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (I used 3 small chicken breasts)
8-10 flour tortillas
1 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded
16 ounces green enchilada sauce
1 cup heavy cream (to lighten them up, I have substituted sour cream with good results)
Mix the first four ingredients and toss with shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least 1/2 hour (I tossed mine together in a ziploc bag in the morning and let it sit in the refrigerator all day). Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover marinade. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top.
*Freezable Meal: Freeze prior to baking. To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake enchiladas, covered (without thawing first) for 1 hour. Uncover and bake 30 minutes longer, until brown and crispy on top.
We always double the marinade – it is great. This time we followed your suggestion and added sauteed onion and garlic