Let’s Spice Things Up: Grilled Chicken Stuffed With Jalapeños

Before I begin, I’d like to point out that I am sorry for the lousy photos from last post, the lighting in my kitchen is terrible due to faulty wiring shorting out a light. This will be remedied in the remodel, and I am looking forward to it. Also, after speaking to a friend about my potato issue last night, she reminded me that sometimes the potatoes can be too starchy, leading to them not taking flavor. I rinse my potatoes to prevent this, but I didn’t do a very good job of it because I was in a hurry. She suggested that I rub the cut ends together and rinse off what builds up to reduce the starchiness. Helpful tidbit really! I plan to try that next time.

Brief remodel update: The new sink arrived this morning, and it is beautiful. However, it was wrong. We ordered a 31” black, cast iron, single basin sink with four holes for the faucet; we got a 31” black, cast iron, single basin sink with three holes. This is problematic, especially since we paid $500 for it. So my father called Home Depot and reordered the sink, the correct one this time, and we are taking the incorrect sink back to the store this afternoon.

Tonight for supper I am cooking grilled chicken stuffed with cheddar, jalapeño peppers, and onions, corn (out of a bag), pinto beans, and cornbread. None of this requires a real recipe, but it does require a taste for spicy food.

My mother loves pinto beans and cornbread, and she does the the inevitable thing that I find disgusting, which is to mash her beans in her cornbread and use extra bean juice. But I digress. When I do pinto beans, I begin the night before by soaking them; I pour the beans into the pot I will use to parboil them the next morning and remove any beans that look bad. The next morning I drain and rinse the beans, removing any bad ones that I may have missed the night before, and then I fill the pot with water and boil the beans for at least an hour with one or two chicken bouillon cubes. While they are boiling I try to skim off any of the residue that may build up on the top. I then drain them again and rinse them to remove any of what I like to call the “bean scum”. Since I have a gas stove and I normally cook my beans all day, for maximum flavor, I put the beans in a crock pot, cover them with water and cook them on low. For flavor I add half a white onion, two dried cayenne peppers because my family likes things spicy, and a spoonful of bacon grease. If I can find decent salt pork that has a good flavor I add that too. But lately I have yet to find any; the best way to determine whether salt pork is flavorful is to fry a piece and taste it. I suppose I should’ve warned you that I am Southern, and we Southerner do not waste things. When I fry bacon, I reserve some of the grease to be used later. I know it sounds disgusting, but it really is helpful.  The only problem with this cooking method is that the juice does not thicken well; to thicken the juice, I often pour the beans into a pot on the stove and bring them to a rolling boil.

Now, you can’t have pintos without cornbread, and cornbread the way my family does it is very simple. First, you will need an iron skillet, properly seasoned with oil. An iron skillet can be seasoned by heating oil in the skillet so that it absorbs it into the metal; this takes time, and it is not a pleasant experience. But a well seasoned skillet is well worth it. Pour enough oil in the bottom of your skillet to cover it; too much and it will cover your batter, too little and your bread will not be crisp on the bottom. Remember, You can always add more oil and heat it; it will be difficult to take oil out. Now, heat the oil and the skillet to 375 degrees; this can be accomplished in one step by letting the skillet heat as the oven heats. For the bread you will need milk, one egg, and self-rising cornmeal mix. I simply add blend together the ingredients until I get the right consistency, keeping in mind the size of my skillet. The thicker your batter, the dryer your cornbread will be. Once again, bear in mind it is easier to add than it is to subtract; also bear in mind that if you have to blend in more meal or more milk its going to increase the amount of batter fairly significantly. Once blended well, I pour it into the hot oil and bake until done. The bread is done when a toothpick can be inserted into the thickest part of the bread and come out clean. The bottom will be crisp and brown, and you can flip the bread from the skillet onto a plate and cut.

Finally we have the chicken, which was not as difficult as one would imagine. First I chopped up one whole white onion and sliced three medium jalapeños; using my quick chop, I diced them very small and mixed them in a bowl. I then sliced four boneless chicken breasts with a sharp filet knife, opening them up so I could fill them. The chicken was marinated in Allegro Hot & Spicy marinade for three days, which gave it a slightly darker color in places and added to the spice. I put two spoons full of the onions and peppers into each chicken breast and topped it with shredded cheese. I used Kraft Mexican Four Cheese Blend.
       
       

Once each was filled, I rolled them tightly and wrapped them in slices of bacon, which acted as a sort of bandage holding the chicken together. While the chicken was convinced that I was helping it by bandaging it with bacon, I skewered them with bamboo skewers and grilled them.

                           

Once they were done, I slid them from their skewers and served them. The cheese and vegetables acted as a sort of glue holding the chicken in shape. These, combined with the spicy pinto beans, were enough to require a glass of milk to cool the mouth. They turned out delicious, even if getting a final shot of the filling was difficult and none of them came out well.

             

Recipe (not really a recipe) for the Pinto Beans: Sassy Southerner Style:

One bag of pinto beans
Two chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 White Onion
Two dried Cayenne Peppers (whole)
One spoonful bacon grease
Garlic powder, onion powder, and other seasonings to taste

• Soak beans over night
  
• Rinse beans and parboil for at least one hour with bouillon
  
• Rinse beans and transfer to pot
  
• Add onions, peppers, and grease, season to taste and cook until done.

A Simple Recipe for Cornbread:

One egg Self-rising cornmeal mix Milk Vegetable/Canola Oil or Olive Oil or Shortening (enough to cover the bottom of the iron skillet)

• Heat oil in seasoned iron skillet to 375 degrees
  
• Blend ingredients until desired consistency is reached, adding meal and milk as needed
  
• Pour batter into skillet
  
• Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean

The Renegade Kitchen’s Jalapeño Stuffed Grilled Chicken:

Four medium sized boneless chicken breasts (marinated if you wish) Three medium jalapeño peppers (sliced) 1 White Onion (sliced) Shredded cheddar cheese 6-8 slices of bacon Four to five bamboo skewers

• Finely dice peppers and onions, then mix together
  
• Slice chicken along the side of the breast, laying them open flat. Do not slice completely through.
  
• Fill chicken with desired amount of peppers and onions, then top with cheese
  
• Fold the chicken over so that the filling is covered, then wrap each breast with two slices of bacon, making sure it is wrapped tight to hold the meat closed.
  
• Once the chicken believes it is safe, stab it with skewers Secure the chicken with skewers; you should be able to use two skewers to hold to breasts. Be sure to insert the skewer through the bacon and in such a way as to hold the chicken together.
  
• Grill chicken until the meat is firm, the juices run clear, and the meat is white. Turn the meat frequently to prevent burning and ensure even cooking.