Entertain with Chicken

Jamie P. writes: “Becky, I have some spare time on my hands and am cooking more. Can you give me some chicken recipes that are fancy but light and festive enough for company?”

Jamie is a 30ish grad student with a cute boyfriend and loves to entertain - so I have a few good recipes for her that are not too $$$ but are different and delicious. The recipes are easy for a novice cook, but really tasty and you will be proud to serve them. I will post a few recipes over the next couple days. Tonight, let's start with Chicken Brochette.

Chicken Brochette

Marinade: Mix all together – ½ c. soy sauce, ½ c. vegetable oil, 3 green onions, chopped, 1 tbs. brown sugar, 1 clove minced garlic, 1 tsp. vinegar (not balsamic or red wine but rather white or cider vinegar).

Other brochette ingredients - 8 cherry tomatoes, one fresh pineapple cut into chunks (you will only use about 12 chunks), green or red pepper pieces (think enough to fit on a skewer) and about 12 fresh mushrooms.

For four people I use 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut in nice size chunks. After you mix up the marinade, drop in the chicken and let the mixture sit covered in refrigerator for an hour or more (you can even do this in the morning before work and let it marinate all day).

When you are ready to go (allow 20 minutes to get it all together) thread chicken on 2-3 skewers. If you don’t have the metal ones, use wooden ones that you have soaked in water for a few hours so they don’t burn up. On different skewers, thread alternating pieces of pepper, pineapple, mushroom and tomatoes. Brush these skewers lightly with olive oil.

You can cook these a number of ways – do them under your broiler, on top of your stove on a grill pan or outside on a grill. The vegetables will go quickly, just make sure the chicken is cooked through (about 5 minutes each side, but cut a fat one in half before time is up to see how they are doing). By the way, once you flip the chicken, start the rice (I use minute rice since it tastes the same to me as regular and never gets gummy). If you time it right, the rice will be done when the meat is ready.

To serve, assemble the plates in the kitchen, dividing the meat and veggies on the four plates with the rice. Serve with a nice green salad.

*Becky Knows Everything: I use chicken broth with a dash of soy sauce for the liquid I cook the rice in. Also sometimes it is nice to serve some cold, fresh pineapple with dinner. Sweet and refreshing.