The name comes from my friend, Angela, who graciously shared her condiments and fresh herbs so I didn't have to over-stock while testing this recipe out of town. Mesquite and chicken are a match made in heaven. This recipe is designed to be used with an indoor smoker, specifically the Emerilware 4-in-1 Smoker. Be sure to read through the instructions before beginning. Plan ahead for marination time.
Prep Time: 8 hours, 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- Juice of 2 lemons (about 1/4 cup)
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp champagne vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, stripped from the stems
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp kosher salt
- 3 pounds (about 3 large half breasts) chicken breast halves, skin on (see Notes)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika (about)
- 1-1/2 tablespoons mesquite smoking chips (see Notes)
Preparation:
To make marinade, whisk together lemon juice, honey, vinegar, olive oil, thyme leaves, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and 1 tablespoon kosher salt until combined. (Yields about 3/4 cup of marinade that may be used for traditional oven-baked chicken if desired.)Place chicken breasts in a large freezer zip-top bag. Pour in marinade, squeeze out all the air, and seal. Toss to coat chicken thoroughly with marinade and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
Sprinkle mesquite chips over the bottom of the smoker. Place drip pan over chips. (Line drip pan with foil for easier clean-up, but make sure the foil is pressed tightly to the pan so you don't disrupt the air-flow of the smoke.) Spray wire grill rack with vegetable oil and place in drip pan.
Remove chicken from marinade and place skin-side up on grill rack in smoker. Sprinkle with additional kosher salt and paprika.
Place smoker over stove-top burners as evenly as possible and offset lid so it is not tightly closed. Turn burner heat to high. When wisps of smoke begin to come through the opening, re-position the lid so it is tightly closed and turn heat to medium-low. Cook about 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts, until center tests 180 F. with an instant-read thermometer.
If you are serving the chicken with the skin on, you may wish to place the chicken under the broiler for browning. Invert the lid of the smoker and place the cooked chicken on the raised grate in the bottom of the lid. Place the chicken 6 inches from the broiler and brown 2 to 5 minutes. Let rest up to 10 minutes before serving.
Serve hot or refrigerate for use in chicken salad.
Yield: 6 servings (about 1/2 chicken breast per person)
Notes: This recipe is designed to be used with an indoor smoker, specifically the Emerilware 4-in-1 Smoker. Adapt at will. The wood chips are specially designed for indoor cookers. They are like roughly-ground sawdust, not the large The wood chips used on traditional outdoor smokers. Seldom are more than 1-1/2 tablespoons of chips used. Follow manufacturer's recommendations.
When using this product on ceramic stove-tops, be very careful to lift the pan instead of dragging. The bottom of the cast iron pan may scratch the cooktop. The smoker is cast iron and very heavy. Use caution when moving the pan. If you drop it, you risk breaking a ceramic stove-top.
If you are following a low-fat diet, simply remove the skin from the chicken after cooking, but do leave them on during the smoking process to help retain moisture.
Emeril 4-in-1 Smoker Product Review
Enhanced Chicken FAQ
Photo © 2006 Peggy Trowbridge, licensed to About.com, Inc.
