Smoked Chipotle Chicken

Grilling a whole chicken brings out flavors that are unlike any other method of preparation. The smokiness imparted by the barbie combined with the racy heat of Smoked Chipotle salt brings the bird to the party. It's summer-time. There's no reason not to get out, grill, and drink a beer or Bloody Mary while doing so.

Recipe

1. Remove giblets from the cavity and rinse the bird under cold water. Pat dry with a paper towel, and season both the inside and out of the bird with Smoked Chipotle salt.

2. Fire up the grill, or turn your gas grill burner to high heat. Thoroughly clean the grill grate, and thinly coat the grill with extra virgin olive oil. Place the bird breast-side down. Cook covered for about 35-40 minutes.

3. Uncover, and flip the bird breast-side up, continuing to grill it until the skin turns golden brown and the meat is cooked through, about another 35-40 minutes.

4. Check for doneness by cutting into the middle of a piece of chicken. The juices should run clear when you cut into the thickest part of the piece. Alternatively, pierce chicken pieces with a meat thermometer. When thermometer shows they have reached an internal temperature of 170 degrees F, the bird is done.

Fall Shrooms, Sauce, and Bird

Pan-seared Chicken with Lobster Mushrooms and Rosemary Butter Sauce

with Secret Stash Soy salt

The Players:

- 2 ea 6 oz skinless chicken breasts
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 shallot
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 sprig rosemary

- 1 stem chive
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 pound lobster mushrooms
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 2 oz olive oil

Searing The Bird:

1. First, start cooking the rice. Place 2 cups of rice in a rice cooker with 4 cups of water, and let her rip.

2. In a hot saute pan, add the olive oil. Once it starts to smoke and sizzle, take the pan off of the heat and add the chicken breast. Place the pan back over the heat and sear the chicken breast till it is golden brown. Flip the bird, searing the other side for less than a minute, and then take it out of the pan.

3. Place the seared breasts on a non-stick baking sheet pan with a slice of butter (1/2 tsp) on top of each breast. Place in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until done. Pull the chicken out and put it on reserve to the side for now.

The Shrooms and Sauce:

1. In a medium sauce pan, add 1 Tbl of butter and set over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the shallot and garlic clove that you have minced up. Cook the shallot and garlic for 3 minutes.

2. Then slice up your lobster shrooms and add them to the pot. I usually slice them bout 1/4 " thick. Cook the shrooms for 5 minutes and deglaze with half of your chicken stock. After you have added the stock, allow it to reduce down till there is about 1/4 cup of liquid left in the pot. Then add a tsp of butter and stir until incorporated and season with pepper. Set aside.

3. For the sauce, place the remaining stock into another smaller sauce pan, and add all of the rosemary leaves of the sprig. Bring to a simmer and reduce till almost dry. Then add the rest of the remaining butter in, a slice at a time, while constantly stirring on low heat. After all of the butter is incorporated, season conservatively with pepper. Set aside.

4. By this time, the rice should be done. Scoop a cup onto a plate and then spoon some of the lobster mushrooms on top of the rice. Slice the chicken breasts, placing 4 seared pieces on top of the mushrooms and rice. Spoon some of the sauce on top.

5. Garnish this dish with Secret Stash Soy salt.

http://www.secretsalts.com/Soy-Sea-Salt.html

http://www.secretsalts.com/

La Tomatina Recipe

If I had a regret, this would be one: not experiencing "La Tomatina," a yearly Spanish festival that resembles a war-strewn zone of splattered tomatoes and thousands of people hucking a gluttonous amount of red globes back-and-forth at each other. Instead, I dedicate this dish to what in another life may very well have been me torpedoing a beefsteak tomato at a random compadre in Bunol, Espana. *Sigh*

Though this recipe could also be titled: "Sunday Salad Simplicity." If it were most characteristic of my current lifestyle, it'd be: "A Healthy Alternative to Friday and Saturday." I am one (of those) who cuts loose on the weekend, falling free out of the work monotony and hum-drum schedule that most weekdays by definition, just are. Even without a 9-5 job, I still manage to stress myself out.

Let's talk food. This recipe is great for 2 reasons. First, it is whip-stick easy to prepare. And secondly, it is ten-fold healthier than most of us were on Friday night.

It calls for:

1/2 pound chicken, skinless light meat, pre-cooked and cut into strips

1 large beefsteak tomato

1 head of broccoli

10 baby carrots

1 hand-full of spinach leaves

2 pinches of Nicoise Olive sea salt

Steam the broccoli and carrots together in a rice pressure cooker for 10-15 minutes or until they are half-way cooked through, yet still retaining a bit of a crunch. Set both aside and let cool. Chop the beefsteak tomato into as many halves as you desire. Cut the chicken into strips if it isn't already part of a left-over dish.* Wash and dry spinach leaves before plating them. Slice baby carrots in half and de-segment the broccoli into small trees. Plate all items together and sprinkle Nicoise Olive sea salt as a garnish. Olive salt is a fantastic substitute for heavy, preservative-laden salad dressings.

*For an even quicker fix to any chicken recipe, use a pre-cooked roasted chicken from the grocery store. They're the ones that doze away all day under the heat lamp till single men buy them.

http://www.secretsalts.com/Niciose-Olive-Sea-Salt.html