Make your Holiday Barbecue Hot and Cold.

Memorial Day, we honor all those who fought for our country; all those who gave their lives to keep us free. This holiday also is the jumpstart for the summer season; even though the calendar still tells us that it's springtime. Family and friends gather for games of touch football, volleyball and horseshoes; picnics in the park or barbeques in the backyard.

This won't be a long post, for like you, I'm going to be enjoying my day off. A simple dinner of grilled chicken breasts with a chipotle citrus sauce glaze and a side dish of "confetti salsa". The salsa is a freshly made salsa, the ingredients cut small and they're colorful just like confetti, hence the name. The cool, fresh salsa is a perfect balance with the hot, spicy chicken breasts.

To cook the chicken, trim off any excess fat and season both sides with salt and pepper. Get your grill up to medium heat, about 300F; lay the chicken bone side down first and cook for 3 minutes. Flip it over and cook another 3 minutes; flip it over to the bone side again and slather on a generous dose of the chipotle citrus sauce, close the barbecue lid and leave it alone for 5 minutes. Now slap on another layer of sauce, cook another 5 minutes with lid closed and you are done. The glaze will be sweet and spicy; the chicken moist and juicy.

Now if you cannot grill outside, this can be done inside under the broiler. First preheat your oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil. Salt and pepper the chicken, place it bone side down on the pan; 3 minutes, flip, 3 minutes, flip, but take the pan out of the oven now. Set your broiler to high; slather on the first layer of sauce and place the pan under the broiler for 5 minutes; repeat with sauce and cooking time and like the outdoor grill, you are done!

Now remember, I use boneless, skinless chicken, so if you're using bone in and skin on or off, you'll have to adjust your cooking time for the added thickness. Using a cooking thermometer is your best bet on making sure the chicken is cooked all the way through.

Oh yeah, this sauce and salsa works great with pork too.

Enjoy the day!!!

Confetti Salsa

Ingredients:

3 medium sized tomatoes, ripe and firm
1 ¼ cups whole kernel corn
1 small red onion, diced
1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
¼ cup each diced red, green and orange bell peppers
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp fine sea salt
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup chopped, fresh cilantro

Preparation:

Cut tomatoes in half and scoop out fleshy pulp and seeds; cut into strips and dice. Steam the corn over boiling water until just tender; place in refrigerator to cool. Into a medium mixing bowl, add all ingredients and gently mix. Refrigerate for one hour before serving.

Makes 4 cups of salsa.

Mary Cokenour

Jalapeno - Chipotle; same chile, different adventures.

The Jalapeno is a small green chile pepper, but as it ages it turns a deep red color. Jalapenos are popular in Southwestern and Mexican cuisines where they can be incorporated into dishes, or be the main element themselves. This chile pepper can be stored in many way; air-dried then crushed or ground, frozen or smoke-dried(giving it the name "chipotle"). Once smoke-dried, the chipotle can be ground into a powder or stored in adobo sauce; then used to intensify the flavoring and seasoning heat of any dish.

With the 4th of July holiday coming up, barbeques and picnics are the popular choices of meal service. I have my own tried and true rubs, marinades and barbeque sauce, but play time called to me...and I just happened to have a small can of chipotle in adobo sauce. However, I just didn't want to develop a sauce that was spicy and nothing much else to it. One sauce I enjoy is a sweet and spicy Thai chili sauce, so I decided to follow that road.

Instead of using a rub, I covered six boneless, skinless chicken breast halves with one cup of the Chipotle Citrus Sauce; covered the bowl they were in with plastic wrap, and let them sit overnight in the refrigerator. After oiling up the grill, I let it heat up to a low setting (200F, and it reached 250F maximum during cooking). The chicken cooked on one side for about 5-7 minutes (depending on thickness), and 5-7 minutes the other side; brushed with more of the sauce.

The spiciness was equal to a medium heat, and it, and the flavoring reached all the way thoroughout the chicken, not just on the surface. I did cook a few other items on the grill at the low setting, and they came out wonderful: river trout (seasoned with dill, salt and lemon), beer brats, baby back ribs with a Kansas City style rub and barbeque sauce,  but I just want to focus this post on the chicken and the Chipotle Citrus Sauce.

The holiday weekend is just around the corner, so get those sauces simmering....and play with your seasoning!!!

Chipotle Citrus Sauce

This sauce does double duty as a marinade and a barbeque sauce.

Ingredients:

½ cup water

¼ cup each lime and orange juices

1 cup tomato puree

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

3 minced chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (add more if more spice heat desired)

1 tsp each of salt, ground cumin, crushed dried Mexican oregano and minced garlic

½ tsp ground black pepper

Preparation:

In a large saucepan, medium-high heat, mix together all ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes; sauce will thicken.  If it becomes too thick add a tablespoon of water until desired consistency is reached.

Makes 2 cups.

Mary Cokenour