It was a little cloudy, with the possibility of rain and/ or thunderstorms yesterday evening, but there was a shelter in place to protect the flames and no signs of lightening, so the grill was fired up……and a delicious meal was prepared using chicken thighs and cucumbers. Rather than slicing all of the cucumber, I made spiral noodles out the vegetable by using a *Paderno Spiralizer. If you do not have one of these handy gadgets in your kitchen, a vegetable peeler will work just as fine……… Enjoy!
Adapted From Chef Michael Symon, co-host of ABC’s “The Chew”
Food & Wine Magazine, June 2015
Ingredients:
2 pounds skin-on, boneless chicken thighs, pounded 1/2 inch thick
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon black caraway seeds
1 English cucumber, thinly sliced
1 English or Persian cucumber, spiralized*
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 small Vietnamese or red jalapeño chile, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons chopped mint, plus whole leaves for garnish
3 Tablespoons chopped roasted unsalted almonds, for garnish
1 scallion, thinly sliced on the bias. for garnish
Directions:
Light a grill.
Rub the chicken thighs with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the chicken skin side down on the grill and top with a sheet of foil and a weighted heavy baking sheet and a couple of foiled wrapped bricks.
Grill the chicken over moderate heat until the skin is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken skin side up, top with the foil and weighted baking sheet and grill for 3 minutes longer. Remove the baking sheet. Turn the chicken skin side down once more and grill until the skin is crispy and the chicken is cooked through, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer the chicken to plates.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the vinegar with the shallot and garlic and gradually whisk in the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil until well blended. Add the cucumber, onion, chile chopped, sesame seeds, caraway seeds and mint and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
To serve, slice the chicken and toss with the cucumber salad. Place the chicken on top of the salad and garnish with the nuts, scallions and mint leaves.
A girl and her grill 