Chipotle Glazed Goodness

Good evening everyone! As I alluded to on Sunday, I've been trying to make this week's recipes for 3 straight weeks now; only to be foiled by rain, cold or rain AND cold. So, when I awoke this morning to yet another day of rain and cold I had a choice to make. Push this recipe back once again or tackle the elements to get this recipe on the blog?

As the popular refrain goes - the show must go own. So, despite the rain and the cold - we're grilling!

Tonight's dish is not a new concept to the blog, in fact we've featured a variant of this recipe at least four other times (that we can find, it's possible that total is higher) in the past. What's different about tonight's dish is that we're trying another new variant for glazing and a new cooking method. Rain or no rain, let's get cooking!

The Recipe: Chipotle Orange Glazed Chicken
Original Recipe From: Eatingwell.com

What You'll Need:
(Serves 2)

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (Trimmed of excess fat)
1 Tablespoon Orange Juice Concentrate (Thawed)
1 1/2 Teaspoons Chipotle Chiles In Adobo Sauce (Chiles chopped fine)
1 1/2 Teaspoons Balsamic Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Molasses
1/2 Teaspoons Dijon Mustard
Salt (Pinch)


Preheat your grill to 500 degrees, then clean the racks and lightly oil one grate. Reduce the grill temperature to medium (300 degree range).

While your grill is heating up, combine the orange juice, chipotle chiles, vinegar, molasses and mustard in a small bowl. Whisk until well blended, then store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Lightly season each chicken breast with salt before placing them on the lightly oil grill grate. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the outside of the chicken turns golden brown. Flip and repeat cooking the opposite side for 2 to 3 minutes.

After flipping the chicken, coat the cooked side with generous portion of the glaze. Once the second side has achieved a golden brown color, flip the chicken again and spread the glaze on that side as well. Allow the chicken to cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until the center registers 165 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

The key here is to watch the chicken after you apply the glaze. If you notice that one side is cooking or browning a little too quickly, simply flip the breast to even out the cooking. The recipe calls for only two rotations, but our grill runs a little hot and I found that a few more flips were necessary to achieve perfect cooking without a burnt finish. As always, just watch what you're doing and you'll be fine.

Once the chicken reaches the safety zone of 165 degrees, simply serve and enjoy!

The Results:

As I mentioned in the open, orange glazed chicken is hardly a new concept to the blog. That being said, each iterations seems to bring a whole new flavor. We've cooked up some very citrusy chicken breasts and even some sweet concoctions as well - but this is the first that balanced the sweet and heat quite well. There's certainly a bite from the chipotle, but it's not enough to scare anyone off (the orange and molasses balance the bite nicely). At just over 150 calories per serving, this quick and healthy meal is a sure fire way to change up weeknight meals.

That's all we have for you this evening, we're back on Thursday when Maggie takes to the kitchen with a brand new recipe of her own. Until then,

~Cheers