Jalapeno Peach Glazed Chicken

First, let me start with my sincerest apologies for my prolonged absence from writing. The past two months have been busy for Robert and I. In July, Robert diligently studied and then took the Texas Bar Exam. If any of you have taken the Bar, or lived with someone who has, then you know that experience can be life consuming. Although I wasn't the one taking the exam, I still had the long hours and sleepless nights that accompany preparing for such a big exam.

Robert and I at Rombauer Vineyards overlooking Napa Valley

 After the Bar was firmly behind us, Robert and I escaped for a week in Napa to drink some wine, take in beautiful weather and scenery, and just enjoy each other. It was wonderful! The timing of our trip could not have been better planned as the day I got back to work I was in the middle of crunch time for a project at work that continued through the month of August and into the first of September.

Pinot Noir Rose Wine with Pinot Noir grapes right off the vine

While I did not stop cooking during those two months, I did stop writing. Fortunately, during that time I stored up several delicious recipes that I hope to share with you soon! So, enough talk about what my life has been like of late, let's get to the food!

Last weekend, a good friend of ours was in town visiting his parents and invited us over for lunch where he served this jalapeno peach glazed chicken. After back to back meals of hamburgers at our tailgate for the A&M football game the day before, I was excited to have chicken and was delighted by the sweet and spicy flavors married in the glaze. I don't think we were home more than 10 minutes before I asked Robert to send an email asking for the recipe.

As I pulled up the recipe on food network yesterday, I was excited to have most of the ingredients for the glaze ready on hand. Unfortunately, I only had about half the amount of peach preserves the original recipe called for, but I did have some fresh peaches that were on the verge of going past their prime so I decided to go ahead with a little modification. Robert and I were pleased with the results and I really enjoyed the taste of the carmelized peaches on the chicken.

I hope you will enjoy this recipe the next time you grill out.

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Jalapeno Peach Glazed Chicken

Ingredients
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 cup peach preserves
1 fresh peach, peeled and finely chopped
1 small jalapeno, finely chopped
1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
salt and pepper

Instructions
Bring a pot of water to boil. Take the fresh peach and cut an x in the bottom with a paring knife.

 Place the peaches in the boiling water for a minute or so until you see the skin start to pull away from the x.

 Place in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Once cooled, peel the peaches and finely chop.

 In a medium bowl, combine the peach, preserves, jalapeno, garlic, soy sauce, mustard, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

 Preheat the grill and season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. When the grill is ready, place the chicken on the grill and cook for 5 minutes.

 Flip, coat with a spoonful of the glaze each and cook for 5 more minutes.

 Flip one last time and cook for about 8 minutes more, or until cooked through.

Remove and enjoy!

Source: Adapted from Bobby Flay

Beer Brined Chicken

So first let me start with saying how excited I am to be back on the blog. After an almost 2 month hiatus I am back with recipes and ideas to share! It's been quite a busy 2 months in the Thetford household. Since my last post, Robert completed his last round of exams in law school, graduated from SMU Law, and we moved to a new home.

Our new residence is a duplex, we have the entire bottom floor and it's bigger than where we were before and we no longer share walls with SMU college kids. It's quiet, blissful, and feels more like living in a house than we've ever had before. One of the great benefits of our new place is a wonderful covered porch that let's us use our new Big Green Egg smoker/grill.

Our new duplex

Vegetable garden with squash, zucchini, bell peppers, watermelon, cabbage and mint

Pots that Robert's mom made in the sixties and seventies filled with herbs and peppers

Since we've moved in, we have been grilling up a storm and loving every minute of it. Our recent favorite is a beer brined chicken cooked in the green egg. The original recipe comes from The Big Green Egg Cookbook and we've made a few adjustments to suit our tastes. Mainly switching the light lager beer for chocolate porter beer (yum!) and New Mexico hot chili powder for cayenne pepper and dark brown sugar for light brown sugar in the spice rub.

So far my kitchen is the only room ready enough for pictures.

Our new home office is in the breakfast nook located just off the kitchen

We had a few friends over for dinner last night and made this chicken and there was nothing left at the end of the meal. The brine makes the chicken super moist, and the rub adds incredible flavor to this skin of the chicken that makes you have to eat it, even though you know you shouldn't. Even though we made this chicken in the Big Green Egg, you could easily replicate the process in an oven pre-heated to 400 degrees with a vertical roaster and drip pan.

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Beer Brined Chicken


Ingredients
8 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt
14 ounces chocolate porter beer
1 3-5 pound chicken
1/8-1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 - 1/2 cup spice rub (ingredients below)

Spice Rub
3 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons spicy red chili (new mexico chili if available)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

Instructions
In a large stock pot combine the water, sugar, kosher salt, and beer and stir until the salt and sugar have completely dissolved.

Add the chicken to the liquid. Depending on the weight of your fryer, the chicken may or may not be fully immersed in the liquid.

Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning part way through if the chicken isn't fully covered like mine was in the picture above.

When it's time to cook the chicken, preheat the green egg (or oven) to 400 degrees. Meanwhile combine the spices for the rub in a bowl and stir to fully combine.

Remove the chicken from the brining solution, rinse with water and pat dry with a paper towel. Discard the brining solution.
Brush the olive oil on the chicken.

Generously season the entire chicken with the spice rub and place on a vertical roaster and set in a drip pan.

If using the green egg, place the plate setter into the grill and place the chicken on the plate setter.

Robert the grill master

Cover and cook at 400 degrees for an hour and fifteen minutes, or until an instant read thermometer reads 165 degrees.
Remove and let sit for about 15 minutes before carving and serving.

Source: Adapted from The Big Green Egg Cookbook

Roasted Chicken

Do you ever walk by those Roasted Chickens at the grocery store and just immediately get hungry? The smell is intoxicating. I thought roasted chicken would be the perfect dinner last night, but I am not one that usually buys precooked meats, I just get worried about bacteria and things along those lines. So, I decided to try my hand at my very first roasted chicken. It was surprisingly easy, and satisfyingly tasty and moist!

I looked at a few different recipes to get an idea of what to do, so this is an amalgamation of about 5 different recipes. You should do the same! Look at a few and get the basics of what you have to do (cooking temperature, time, things like that) and then play around with the flavorings!

Happy roses from the garden! Flowers make any normal evening special. 

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Ingredients:
1 Roasting Chicken (not frying chicken)
Salt and pepper and other seasonings of choice (I used Cavender's Greek seasoning)
1/4 stick (two tablespoons) of butter, melted
1 lemon cut into slices
5 whole cloves of garlic, peeled
1 yellow onion, cut into large chunks
20-30 baby carrots, almost one whole small bag (I snacked on the rest of them!)
Butcher's twine

Steps:
1. Gather your ingredients and preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

I had already washed and seasoned my chicken in this picture.

2. Remove any innards from the chicken, and then wash with water and pat dry.
3. Liberally season the outside and inside of the chicken with salt, pepper and your choice of other seasonings.
4. Fill the cavity of the chicken with as many pieces of onion, garlic, carrot, and lemon you can possible fit.

5. Tie the legs together with the Butcher's twine.
6. Spread the remaining carrots, garlic, onion and lemon slices evenly across the bottom of a large baking dish or roasting pan.

7. Place the chicken (with legs up) on top of these veggies.

8. Brush the chicken with all of the melted butter.

9. Bake the chicken for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Basted the chicken every so often with the juices that accumulate in the dish. My chicken came with one of those devices that pops up when it is cooked through, but I also used my meat thermometer just to make sure. When you cut into the meat, the juices should run clear, as that indicates fully cooked chicken.

10. Enjoy with mashed potatoes, corn muffins and a fresh salad!

Shafer helping Bunker with some late night work!

Baked Chicken Nuggets

I was in a five year old mood the other night, and really wanted the chicken nuggets from my childhood. Rather than running over the the Golden Arches, I decided to try my hand at a healthier version of these tasty morsels. You could eat these with ketchup and sweet potato french fries (my dinner), or add these nuggets to any salad or use them with BBQ dipping sauces. This recipe is very easy and requires very few ingredients. The chicken nuggets came out juicy on the inside with a slight crunchy and flavorful bite to the outside, just perfect!

Caught both girls mid-bark in their backyard jungle!

I found this recipe on Skinny Taste.

Explorer buddies!

The jungle in full bloom...a few roses are blooming and the rest are about to explode with color! Our Christine tree is standing tall and brings a smile to my heart. 

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Ingredients:
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into smaller pieces, about 4 x 4 inches.
2 teaspoons of olive oil
8 tablespoons of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

Steps:
1. Gather your ingredients and preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

2. Add the olive oil to the chicken and mix to coat thoroughly.

3. Add the breadcrumbs to the chicken and mix to coat thoroughly.

4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Place the chicken nuggets in a pan sprayed with non-stick spray.

6. Place in the oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes.
7. Then turn the chicken pieces over and cook for another 4-6 minutes, until fully cooked.

8. Enjoy!