G-Rod Grills
Cooking (and food in general) has long been an outlet for me. I remember as a kid always making “fancy” parm and mayo sandwiches for my brothers after school, which then eventually turned into parm and mayo grilled cheese because I was “stepping it up a bit!”. I don’t think they liked them but they never complained, mostly because it was either that or make their own snack... and they’d much rather make me do the work!
Thankfully I’ve gotten better at cooking and my family has never had to eat those terrible sandwiches. I’ve also acquired a few cast iron skillets over the years - for some reason I think food always looks better in cast iron, I don’t know what it is but I think it just looks better. I have countless cast iron magazines that I’ll probably never read but I do enjoy looking at all the pictures. With that said, I’ve been playing around with trying to incorporate cast a bit more in my cooking and although it is still a work in progress, this recipe was a hit at my house. Even my 18mth old scarfed it down and asked for more! It’s super easy to make and I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and I did!
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Chicken Cherry Tomato Confit
Ingredients:
- 6 Chicken thighs or 4 breasts (I used a mix of boneless/skinless thighs and breast)
- 1-2 Pints of cherry tomatoes. You can use grape but cherry are sweeter and will work better for this. (Use multicolored tomatoes for a little more colour pop)
- 1 head of garlic
- 1/2 Bundle of fresh thyme
- 1/4c + 2tbpsn EVOO. You can use infused olive pile too for more flavour!
- Salt & pepper
- 12” cast iron or oven proof skillet if using a grill. A regular 12” deep Pan will do if using the stove
Directions:
Start by preheating your grill up to 350F. You’re going to cook at this temp for about an hour or so, make sure you’ve got enough fuel to get you there!
In a hot pan add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and let it heat up until it starts to dance - you’ll know what I mean when you see it. Season your chicken liberally with salt & pepper to taste and place in the hot pan to brown (approx 3-4min per side). We’re not cooking the chicken through, just want to get some colour on it. Remove chicken and set aside.
In your cast iron skillet, place the full pint of cherry tomatoes and spread so that they’re in a single layer. Put in your 1/4c of olive oil and toss tomatoes around. You may need more olive oil, the key here is that your tomatoes are generously coated coated with oil. Cut garlic head in half across the width of it and place cut end down making sure it is in contact with the bottom of the pan. Do not peel garlic, leave it skin on - it looks prettier!
Lastly, take a few sprigs of the thyme, remove from the stems and sprinkle all over. Take a few more sprigs and place them on the pan whole. Place skillet in preheated grill and let it cook in disturbed for 20-25min.
At this point your tomatoes should be starting to blister and begin releasing their juices into the olive oil. If you don’t see them blistering, let them cook a few more minutes until the skins begin to split. Take your chicken and place in the skillet making sure there is enough room between each piece. Let this continue to cook until your chicken has reached 165F internal temperature of using breasts or 175F if using thighs. Depending on your grill and thickness of chicken, this could take another 20-30min.
Once your chicken is done, remove from grill and let cool slightly so that you don’t burn off your taste buds! The tomatoes should have all burst and blended in with the olive oil, garlic, thyme and have made one sweet, delicious tomatoey confit.
You can use this as a pasta sauce alternative, serve on crostini like bruschetta or like I did with mine, serve over white rice. Whichever way you decide to go, it’s going to be delicious!
Enjoy!
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