Packet cooking on the grill is so easy and so good. Tonight the packets are cabbage and another with a sweet onion. The main dish is honey-mustard chicken breast and for a grain - grilled focaccia bread.
I'll go straight to the recipes.Grilled Cabbage Packet
1/2 head of cabbage
1/2 lemon
1 Tbls garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Tbls Worcestershire sauce
6 slices bacon, cut in half
Cut a half of a head of cabbage into 1 1/2 inch thick wedges. Lay the wedges closely together on a 12 inch length of foil that you have sprayed with non-stick spray, leaving at least three inches on the sides of the foil. Drizzle the cabbage with the juice of the lemon and the Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle with garlic, salt, and pepper. Lay the slices of bacon over the top (can be omitted, but, BACON! If you omit the bacon, drizzle about 2 Tbls of olive oil on the cabbage instead).
Lay another piece of sprayed foil on top and fold the edges of the top and bottom foil sheets together to make tightly sealed seams all the way around the outside and up to the cabbage. Mark the bacon side with a marker so you don't forget which side is which.Get your grill medium hot (400 degrees). Lay the packet, bacon side up on the grill and close the grill lid. Turn down the heat to medium (350 degrees) and let cook for 15 minutes. Flip the packet over and let cook another 10 minutes.
Be careful when opening the packet because it is full of steam that can burn you, badly, like microwave popcorn bags . . .
Grilled, Whole Onion Packet
1 sweet onion
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 Tbls butter
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
Cut off the ends of the onion and peel it. Hollow out a small hole at the top of the onion with a knife just big enough for the bouillon cube to fit in. Carefully slice the onion from the hole down through the onion to within about an inch of the bottom all the way around the onion at 1 inch intervals. This allows the steam and flavors to get into the whole onion. It should still hold together mostly onion-like though because you don't cut all the way to the bottom.Place onion on a square of foil. Put the cube in the hole at the top. Smear on the butter over the cube and the top of the onion. Sprinkle on the garlic powder and pepper. Then wrap the foil up from the bottom and tightly seal.
Place on a medium hot grill and close the lid. Lower heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes with the top of the onion up. Then roll it over and cook another 10 minutes. (Same timing as the cabbage!)
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| The dough drizzled with oil, ready for 15 minutes of rising, then grilling |
Grilled Focaccia Bread
3/4 cup very warm water
1 heaping tsp yeast
1 Tbls sugar
1 tsp thyme leaves
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp freshly ground dried rosemary leaves
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 cup dried onion, minced
1/8 cup olive oil
Up to 2 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
In a large bowl, mix the water, yeast and sugar. Let sit for a couple of minutes. Then add the spices and onion (but not the salt). Let sit another 5 minutes. Stir in the olive oil. Then, add a cup of flour and the salt. Stir and add more flour until you get a sturdy but moist dough. Once it clings together and not to the bowl, knead it on a counter for a minute. Knead in the cheese just barely - you want to leave pockets of cheesy goodness here and there in the dough.
Flatten the dough into a circle and put into an oiled pie tin - or for a really good crust, put it in a small Dutch oven or cast iron skillet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for an hour. When it has risen to the top of the pan carefully poke it down with your fingers. Let it rise again for 20 minutes and make indentations with your fingertips in the top. Drizzle with more olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt.
Let rise another 15 minutes and then put the bread on a medium high grill over indirect heat (not over the burner). If you have a couple of stray bricks, put them in the grill to get hot and put your bread pan on top of those. Close the lid of the grill and let the bread bake for 15 minutes. (The first 15 minutes of the foil packets time.) Check it for browning on the bottom. I like some color on top too, so when the bread is almost done (15 minutes) I flip it out of the pan onto the grill itself and let it cook on that side for just a couple of minutes to give it grill marks. Let cool slightly before eating for best flavor.
Balsamic vinegar for dipping is optional.
Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken
2 chicken breasts, cut into 6 fillets (Cut off the thin end of the breast half way up the meat - 1 piece. Then, on the thicker end of the breast, slice through it horizontally to make 2 thinner pieces. You should now have 3 very similar sized chicken fillets).
Marinade:
2 Tbls prepared mustard2 Tbls honey
2 Tbls Worcestershire sauce
dash of ground pepper
Mix up the marinade. Stir in the chicken pieces to coat. Keep covered in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before grilling, stirring occasionally.
Cook on a medium hot zone (375 degrees) on a greased grill. Pour the leftover marinade on the chicken when you put it on the grill, that way it will cook when you flip the chicken over and it will not kill you. Cook about 8 minutes on the first side for fillets that are 3/4 inch thick. Then flip over and cook the other side of the chicken until done (about 5 minutes). Always cook chicken thoroughly; using a thermometer poked into the thickest part of the meat is the best way to make sure the chicken is safe. (Start the chicken during the last 10 minutes of the packet time.)
So that's dinner. Yup. Gotta love spring.
And happy birthday hub!
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| See the oozy cheesy goodness coming out of that piece of bread? That is why you just lightly fold it in the dough. |
mmmm Yummy!!!
ReplyDeleteIt is so good. I usually make double marinade and use half then save half for dipping the chicken in at the table (no meat in this half). And I love it when I can cook everything outside. Tell me what you think when you try it!
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