Note about the guest bloggers- Curtis and Liz Chism Curtis and Liz Chism live in San Diego, CA and were recently married. Curtis is a construction professional and Liz is a student and sign language interpreter. Curtis enjoys grilling and writing and Liz loves cooking and photography; together they have teamed up to share their grilling and cooking tips. Thanks Curtis and Liz!
December usually means the grill is packed away and forgotten until spring, but not so here in San Diego, CA, where we just experienced another 80 degree day – perfect grilling weather!
After grilling with Wildwood Grilling Outlet Cedar Grilling Planks for the first time, we fell in love with them! Our recipe was a delicious dry rub chicken with a glaze that we’ve used numerous times both on the grill and in the oven. The recipe can be found at For the Love of Cooking.
Mix the spices together in a bowl to create the dry rub, and then rub the thawed breasts with the mixture (garlic and chili powder, salt, cumin paprika, red pepper). Mix the honey and cider vinegar together to make the glaze. Now you’re ready to start grilling!
Remove the plank from the beer, place it on the grill, pre-heat the grill to about 350 degrees, and allow enough time for the plank to warm up (5-10 minutes).
Ingredients
- 4 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- Pinch of crushed red pepper
- Cooking spray
- 6 TBS of honey
- 3 tsp cider vinegar
Many traditional plank instructions call for soaking the Western Red Cedar plank in water for 1-2 hours. We opted to soak the plank in beer and chose Lagunitas Brewing Co India Pale Ale (IPA) for about 3 ½ hours, which we were planning on pairing with the chicken. Make sure to add some weight to the plank to keep the plank submerged (such as the empty beer bottle, or fill the bottle with water for additional weight). The smoking cedar wood and IPA beer added amazing complexity to an already savory chicken dish.
Directions
- Soak cedar grilling plank in IPA beer for about an hour.
- Place the chicken directly on the grill to sear it for 1-2 minutes on high heat on both sides to help lock in the moisture and give it that classic grilled appearance. (We basted the plank with more beer to add a little more flavor just before placing the chicken on the plank. Just be careful not to let too much beer spill off the plank or the grill will start flaming up.)
- Once the chicken is seared, remove the chicken from the grill and place it on the plank.
- Close the lid and let it cook for an appropriate amount of time (15-20 minutes).
- A few minutes before removing the chicken from the plank, baste the chicken with the honey/vinegar glaze and allow it to finish off the chicken.
- Remove from the plank and it’s ready to serve! To complete this delectable meal, serve up a side salad, quinoa, and steamed broccoli. And of course pair the dish with the same beer used for soaking the plank – Lagunitas IPA.
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