Tequila Lime Chicken Skewers

Here it is folks! As requested the recipe for those tasty party treats I served at Lesli's Birthday party. There was such a great response from everyone about how tasty they were that I decided to bump it to the front of the blog line up. I got the body of the recipe from the "Taste" magazine the liquor store puts out in BC. I recommend picking up a copy quarterly for some tasty ideas.

Ingredients:

1 lime zest
1/2 cup lime juice
3/4 cup pulpless orange juice
1/4 cup gold tequila ( I used Cazadores Anejo tequila)
1 Tbsp clover honey
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves, plus extra for garnish (important)
2 Tbsp kosher salt (I like Maldon salt)
1 Tbsp smoked chili powder (I used a pinch of smoked paprika and chill powder)
2 Tsp ground black pepper
1.5 pounds chicken breast, cut into 1" chunks
1 red onion

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except onion and chicken in a mixing bowl- whisk until the salt dissolves and everything is well mixed.

Add chicken and stir to coat in marinade, cover and refrigerate for 4 hours. Or put in ziplock bags and massage the chicken to coat. If you don't use all the marinade save it in the mixing bowl. (I let them soak in ziplock bags for closer to 7 hours, the chicken started to cook a little because of the lime but it was super tasty!

2. Meanwhile soak 12 wooden skewers in water. Unless you want them to burst into flame! For a large chicken breast you will need about 4 skewers with 5-6 pieces on each one.

3. When ready to cook the chicken preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Remove chicken and save marinade. Place the marinade (that had the chicken in it) in a small sauce pan and boil for 1 minute over medium-high heat. We'll use this when cooking the chicken.

4. Thread chicken onto skewers alternating with a few pieces of red onion.

5. Season the grill with a spray bottle of oil. Alternatively you can pour some oil on a paper towel and lightly smear it on the grill. If you have a 3 burner BBQ just leave the flame on the two outside burners and place a 5-6" folded tinfoil over the middle burner. We will be laying the wooden skewers onto the tinfoil to further protect them from burning.

6. Grill the chicken. Brushing with reserved marinade frequently and turning often until cooked through; about 8-10 minutes.

7. Place on a platter (that your wife made in pottery, or go to PotteryLove.com to get some of my wife's pottery) and garnish with additional cilantro.

This was easy and fun to make. I skipped the red onion and used 3 pieces of chicken on shorter skewers to make them finger-food-friendly for a party. Everyone will take a small portion, but 5-6 pieces is too intimidating a commitment at a cocktail party. For dinner I would use 5-6 pieces with side dishes on a plate.

I tripled the recipe with 4.5 pounds of chicken and had an extra cup of marinade I kept "clean" for basting the skewers with on the BBQ. It made about 50 skewers and loads of happy party goers!

We had tequila lime chicken skewers again and paired it with the fennel and orange salad (coming to the blog soon) and what a great fresh summer dinner. Give it a shot you will be pleased!