Chicken Spiedini

College Girl is home for spring break, and if you ask her what her fave thing is she will probably say "Chicken Spiedini." Although it is best grilled on the outdoor grill, it can also be made inside on a panini press, a George Forman type grill, or even oven baked, like we did last night.

Our Spiedini is chicken chunks, skewered with bacon, rolled in bread crumbs and then grilled. The recipe starts with a really delicious marinade with fresh herbs, shallots, garlic, wine vinegar and other things. The shallots and garlic, along with thyme (or whatever herb you are using) smell SO good and fresh.

After whisking together the marinade, fold in some nugget sized pieces of chicken breast. Let the chicken sit in the marinade for a while, and then it is time to put the skewers together.

Although the recipe calls for cubes of pancetta, we use bacon. The recipe also suggests rolling the chicken cubes in bread crumbs, THEN skewering, but we have found it easiest (and less messy) to "S" the bacon onto the skewer with the chicken in between, then roll the whole thing in bread crumbs before grilling.


When assembling the skewers, don't thread things on the sticks too tightly or the heat won't get to the nooks and crannies. Loosen up a little so the heat can evenly cook the bacon and chicken.


From Food Network Kitchens "Get Grilling" Page 91

The original recipe

Marinade:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh marjoram, oregano, or thyme
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 shallot, finely minced (about 3 tablespoons)
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
4 teaspoons kosher salt (NOTE: we use half the salt!)
Freshly ground black pepper
1-1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-1/2" cubes
3/4 pound pancetta or slab bacon, cut into 1-inch cubes (NOTE: we use strips of regular bacon and leave it as whole strips)
2 cups dried bread crumbs

1. Whisk the olive oil, marjoram, vinegar, shallot, garlic, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and black pepper to taste in a large bowl. Add the chicken and turn to coat evenly. Cover and marinate at room temperature for one hour, stirring once, or refrigerate for up to four hours.

2. Prepare an outdoor grill with a medium-high fire for direct grilling. If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before grilling. Put the pancetta into a saucepan with enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately drain. Set aside. Remove the chicken from the marinate; discard the marinade. Put the bread crumbs in a shallow bowl or pie plate, season with salt to taste, and roll the chicken pieces in the bread crumbs to coat.

3. Alternate threading the chicken and pancetta cubes on 8 skewers, starting and ending with the chicken. Leave a little space around the meat so the heat gets to all sides. Grill, turning as needed, until the chicken is cooked through and the bread crumbs are crispy and golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes.