Finding boneless skin-on chicken breast seems to be a challenge (at least where we live) so we bought skin-on bone-in chicken breasts and removed the bone. With a sharp small knife such as a boning knife, run the blade along the rib cage to separate the breast from the bone. You can freeze the bones for the next time you make homemade chicken stock.
Ingredients
- 4 large boneless skin-on chicken breast halves (10-12 ounces each)
- 3 tablespoons finely minced garlic
- ½ cup chopped fresh basil
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix garlic, basil and oil. Add additional oil if necessary.
- Smear the mixture on both sides of the chicken breasts being careful to leave the skins intact. Sprinkle both sides with a small amount of salt and pepper. (The chicken may be allowed to marinate for up to 6 hours if desired.)
- Over a medium fire, place chicken skin side down to crisp skin, about 8-10 minutes. Watch the temperature to make sure they do not burn. We leave the tenderloin on our chicken breasts so they are fairly thick – if you are doing the same, close the cover for a few minutes to raise the heat. Flip the breasts over and cook for another 6-8 minutes, again with the cover closed part of the time to have the grill function as an oven. (If your chicken breasts are not thick, the cover should be left open.
- Note: If you are not comfortable telling when meat is done, pull one off and slice into a thick part to make sure there is no pink. They will sit after they come off the grill and will cook a bit on your platter so do not leave on too long.
- Remove the chicken from the heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve either whole or sliced for your family or guests with our Grilled Balsamic Peaches see below:
Grilled Balsmaic Peaches
Ingredients
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper (you can add more or less based on your tastes but the pepper is really great against the other sweet flavors in this dish)
- 4 ripe peaches
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan, bring vinegar to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer until reduced by half (15-20 minutes). Remove from heat and add molasses and black pepper.
- Cut the peaches following the natural line that circles the fruit. Cut all the way down to the pit and just run the knife right around keeping the blade against the pit. Gently grab each half and twist in opposite directions. Then pop the stone out with a paring knife or a spoon.
- Heat the grill to medium. Keep glaze warm so it does not harden up.
- Brush each cut side with oil and place cut down on the grill. Grill for about 2 minutes and flip. Brush the cooked tops with the glaze and cook for about two more minutes. Remove to a platter and brush on more of the glaze.
- Serve with extra glaze on the side.
Note: To ripen hard peaches, put them in a brown paper bag with a very ripe piece of fruit such as an apple or banana for day or two. The ripe fruit will give off gasses to help the peaches ripen faster. Our peaches were rock hard when we bought them so we put an apple and a banana in the bag with them and left them to ripen for two days. (How long yours takes will depend on how much ripening is required.)
