Laquered Chicken with Grilled Pineapple Salsa

This is a combination of two great recipes I found. The first, the laquered chicken, is from Patio Daddio BBQ. This chicken comes out super moist with a delicious Teriyaki-like sauce. Swing by Patio Daddio's blog and you'll find great grilling and food ideas.


I topped the chicken with an easy grill pineapple salsa, which is from Marguerite from the Cajun Delights blog. Marguerite's blog has some of my favorite foods of all time.

For the chicken:

Makes: 4 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5 hours
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 bone-in split chicken breasts (skin removed if desired)

Brine:

• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1/8 cup soy sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Sauce:

• 3 cups pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

1. Make the brine by bringing one quart of water to a boil. Add in the remaining ingredients and dissolve. Remove from heat. Add in one quart of cold water and a few cups of ice to cool the brine off.

2. Place the chicken in one or two large resealable baggies. Pour in the brine and reseal. Place the baggies in a large bowl in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

3. To make the sauce, bring the the pineapple juice to a simmer in a sauce pan and continue boiling until reduced by half. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to simmer until again reduced by half. Remove from heat. Let cool and keep in the fridge until ready to use.

4. Fire up the grill for direct and indirect cooking. Remove the chicken from the bags. Sear over direct heat then move to indirect heat. Glaze with the sauce every 10 minutes until the chicken is done. Serve topped with the salsa.

For the salsa:

Makes: 4 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 1 whole pineapple
• 1/4 cup red onion, minced
• 2 jalapeño peppers, minced
• 2 tablespoons red bell pepper, minced
• 2 tablespoons green bell pepper, minced
• 1 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

1. Cut the pineapple into slices. If you've never done it before, visit this site on how to do it.

2. Grill the pineapple over direct heat for 3 minutes on each side or until lightly golden and starting to soften. Remove and let cool. Cut into small chunks.

3. Combine all ingredients. Place in fridge for 30 minutes before serving.