grilled chicken

The Christmas griddle was finally removed from its resting place under my butcher block and was used over the weekend.  I was originally going to do a another slow-cooker recipe this week, but I was feeling a little sorry (and guilty) for the Christmas gift that I have neglected for the past three months.  I read with trepidation the meager instructions it came with: turn on, wait for light to turn green, place food on grill, close top, remove food, eat.  I turned it on.

One of my favorite food stand-by's is Italian-dressing marinated grilled chicken.  Since I've moved away from home, I've had to satisfy myself with marinating the chicken and then baking it in the oven, which is certainly not as good as chicken fresh from the grill.  Since I am now in possession of my very own personal grill, I thought that Italian-marinated chicken would be an excellent inaugural choice.

As the grill warmed up, my kitchen was filled with the smell of melting plastic.  The instructions told me that this was normal and that I should just let the grill do its thing and the smell would dissipate over time (lie).  I retrieved my bag of marinated thin-sliced chicken breasts from the fridge and waited for the light on the grill to turn green, indicating that it was now safe to use.  It should also be known that the grill has three heating settings: low, medium, and high.  The instructions weren't clear about what setting would be ideal for my situation, so I chose "medium."  It seemed like the safest choice - not too hot, and hopefully warm enough to kill any salmonella.

I was feeling pretty confident at this point.  Once the grill had heated up, I grabbed a chicken breast and attempted to gently place it on the hot grill plates.  Here is where my confidence wavers and the story takes a dark turn.  I wasn't expecting grease to splatter so quickly from the meat onto my bare arms, but it did.  I leapt back from the grill after throwing the lid down on the chicken.  I was unclear as to how long I was supposed to leave the chicken to cook, so I approached carefully with one oven mitt on and a meat thermometer in the other hand.  Over time, I got very good at throwing the chicken down on the grill, slamming the lid closed, and leaping away while moaning in despair.

I sustained many burns that evening.

Italian Marinated Grilled Chicken

• Half bottle of Italian dressing.
• 1 lb chicken breasts (any size)
• Sandwich fixin's (ciabatta bread, baby spinach, mayonnaise, red onion in my case)

1. Marinate the chicken at least overnight in the Italian dressing.  I usually just throw it in a Ziploc bag and throw it in the fridge.
2. Cook chicken on grill.
3. Make sandwiches