Memorial Day Grilling

Here it is Memorial Day weekend, the opening of the grilling season. I left my Weber grill in the garage, but I do have my new Le Crueset skinny grill. I got some extra shrimp when shopping for the paella and then went out and found two recipes for citrus-y baked chicken and modified them as grilled chicken with sauce and marinated shrimp.

Shopping list:

1 or 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 to 1/2 lb. medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
3 or 4 juicing oranges
1 lemon
4 scallions
1 shallot
1 piece ginger
Ricard or other anise liqueur
fresh rosemary
fresh mint
white wine
lime juice
Tabasco sauce

Prepare the chicken breast:

Chicken breast
1 T. lemon zest
1 T. orange zest
rosemary sprigs
salt and pepper

Slice the chicken breast horizontally, most of the way through. Sprinkle with lemon and orange zest. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange the rosemary on the half of chicken breast. Close breast, cover with plastic wrap and pound with a frying pan to flatten. Refrigerate.



Marinate the shrimp:

Juice the oranges, set aside 2/3 C. for the chicken sauce.

3 T. orange juice
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 T. lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. dried cilantro
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
1 T. olive oil
4 dashes Tabasco sauce
1/4 t. salt

Combine everything and cover the shrimp. Refrigerate.



Chicken sauce:

4 scallions, sliced
2 T. minced shallots
1 T. minced fresh mint
olive oil
2/3 C. orange juice
juice of 1/2 lemon
piece of ginger
1 T. Ricard
1/4 C. dry sherry
2 t. sugar
1/2 C. white wine

In a saucepan, cook scallions, shallots and mint in olive oil until soft. Add orange juice, lemon juice, Ricard, dry sherry and sugar. Grate ginger into a sieve and press juice out. Add ginger juice to saucepan. Bring to a boil. Simmer until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Spoon a little onto the chicken breast.

Add the wine and simmer while grilling, reducing by half (again).

Skewer the shrimp on bamboo skewers, or poke through with the skewer then put the shrimp on rosemary stems. This takes a lot longer, so I only did half on rosemary.

And here I am ready to grill.



The chicken takes about 8 minutes a side. Baste with the sauce occasionally.

The shrimp is much faster, about a minute and a half per side.

Here's the Yucatan Grilled Shrimp Skewers


And the Grilled Chicken in Islands Aromas


I should have made a vegetable side, but I didn't. Served with a side of pasta and a French wine.


Verdict: B
Credits: Chicken Breasts in Islands Aromas in Eating Well May/June 1993 and Chicken Yucatan in Eating Well July/August 1993
Leftovers? Yes, good cold or on a salad

Notes: