Grilled Chicken with Fresh Grape Glaze

Hey Everyone,

What a nice way to use some of those
fresh garden onions, garlic, and
rosemary!

Nothing says summer is here like trying new things on the grill! While this recipe does take some prep time, it is simply delicious and always a hit when entertaining.  A friend of mine gave it to me years back from her Cooking Light Magazine.  I enjoy making the glaze a day ahead and then marinating the chicken for a few hours before grilling the next day.

Ingredients:  Serves 6 at 2 pieces each

Glaze:

4 cups red or black seedless grapes
2 teaspoons Bertollini Extra Light Olive Oil
1 cup chopped fresh onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

Chicken:

3 - 3 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless, chicken breast or about 12 pieces mixed
1 tablespoon Bertollini Extra Light Olive Oil
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cooking spray
Fresh rosemary leaves for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

Clean, remove residue, and place grapes on paper towels to dry.  Place the cleaned grapes in blender; process until smooth. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion; cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add garlic, cover and cook 3 minutes, stirring often.  Add the pureed grapes, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary.  Stir well and bring to a slight boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened, making sure to stir often.  Cool somewhat, then place grape mixture in a blender and process until smooth.

For the juiciest and most flavorable chicken, marinate for 2 to 4 hours before grilling.

Prepare grill.

Clean and skin all chicken.  Brush 1 tablespoon of oil over chicken; sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of finely chopped rosemary, salt, and pepper.

Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray.  Baste, cover and grill for 25 - 30 minutes, turning and basting frequently with the grape glaze mixture.  Garnish with fresh rosemary leaves to serve if desired.

This recipe freezes exceptionally well for extra batches when grapes are in season.  It also doubles quite nicely for those times when the gang's all there.

Happy Grilling,

Denise, Beds 25 & 29

Serious Squirrel Defense Structures!

Yes....squirrel defense structures are popping up left and right!

If you are lucky, they only dig deep holes that dry out the ground and cover up the plants like in this bed. If you are unlucky...you lose the plants like I've lost a number of carrots in one corner of my bed.

There is no way the sunflowers will survive if we didn't create a structure to keep the squirrels from digging in the bed. They've already destroyed the one sunflower plant we had! This will also protect the seeds and seedlings from the birds as well.

I ramped up my squirrel repelling cage because I didn't want them to destroy my newly planted tomatoes or tear up my lettuce and carrots while I'm gone. Once I'm back I'll put the cages on the tomatoes themselves and figure out exactly how I'm going to protect everything until the plants are bigger.