From Scratch

My copy of the Perdue Chicken Cookbook is falling apart, and this recipe is one reason. That’s not to say every recipe’s a winner — I write in my cookbooks and the word “yuck” does appear on those pages — but most are winners and this one’s a champ.

As I noted in my cookbook, this is wonderful on a contact grill and beyond fabulous over charcoal. But tonight, even though I planned to make this outdoors, it was cloudy and threatening rain by the time I was finally able to think about dinner.

I was too tired to think of cleaning the top and bottom of the contact grill, so I made this in a stovetop grill pan. It was still delicious and even though it’s on Perdue’s website now, I prefer to dig out my pages-loose cookbook. By the way, in a contact grill 7 minutes or so is fine. Tonight, these thick breasts needed about ten minutes per side in the grill pan.

Fire Eaters’ Chicken

1 package skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground red pepper or to taste (I use red pepper flakes. About a tablespoon.)
3/4 teaspoon salt
Lemon wedges (optional)

Place chicken in shallow dish. In small bowl, combine remaining ingredients except lemon wedges. Pour marinade over chicken, turning to coat both sides. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or longer.

Prepare lightly greased grill for cooking. Drain chicken; discard marinade. Grill chicken breasts, uncovered, 5 to 6 inches over white-hot coals 6 to 8 minutes on each side until cooked through.

To serve, garnish with lemon wedges.

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Tags: chicken, easy