Southwest Chicken Breast with Cumin Mayo

I'm a thief, kind of at least. I have been eating pork all week ( see my pulled pork post) and had a couple of turkey size chicken breast thawed out but what to do with them? There was a Southwest pork tenderloin recipe on Nibble Me This I have been wanting to try but I had chicken not pork. Oh well, is it really that big of a leap?  I did it anyways. Very quick to do if you don't count the one hour for brining that you don't have to do. Excellent results. I'm sure it's wonderful with a pork tenderloin.

What I did:
1) The breasts were huge. Grilling was going to be a problem. So I pounded them out to about 3/4 inch thick.
2) I had time so I did a simple brine.
3) I had a huge surface area to cover so I increase the amount of rub by 100%
4) There are only 2 of us so I decrease the cumin mayo by 50%

Results: Meat 9.0 Taste 9.0 Tenderness 9.0 (brining is a good thing).  The chicken was very good but as my wife said, "Where's the garlic?" This is my clue to be sure to include the garlic in all future grillings. She's just a garlic fiend.
Cumin Mayo 9.5 Loved the buffed up mayo.

Notes: The rub was a little skimpy on these giant chicken breast. Should be about right with normal size breasts. I had no fresh cilantro so I used dried and cut it down a little.

Tools: Nothing special

Ingredients:

2 Skinless boneless chicken breasts.

Brine
3 cups cold water
3 T table salt
1 1/2 T sugar

Rub
3 T cumin
2 t chili powder
1/2 t black pepper
1 1/2 t salt only if you don't brine. Do not add if you brine.

Cumin Mayo
2 t cumin
1/2 cup mayo
1 t lime juice
1 t dried cilantro

Instructions:

1) Trim chicken breast and if large pound out to about 3/4 inch thick with meat mallet.

2) In a 1 gallon zip lock bag combine 3 cups cool water, 3 T table salt and 1 1/2 T sugar. Mix well and add chicken. Squeeze out most of air and seal. Mix well and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
3) Remove from refrigerator, pat dry and let set at room temp for 20-30 minutes.
4) Will #3, make up Cumin Mayo as below and preheat clean and oil grill.

5) Mix rub and apply approximately 1/4 to each side of a chicken beast and rub in well.

6) Grill on medium heat for 6 minutes per side until internal temp is 165 or better. It to exactly 12 minutes for me total time.

7) Remove from grill and let set 5 minutes before serving.


Cumin Mayo Instructions:

1) In  a small sauce pan over medium heat, cook cumin alone until it starts to turn brown. About 2-3 minutes.

2) Add in small bowl, combine cumin, mayo, lime juice and cilantro. Mix well and refrigerate until needed. About 1 hour if possible.

Southwest Chicken Breast with Cumin Mayo

by DrDan at 101 Cooking For Two April-25-2011

I'm a thief, kind of at least. I have been eating pork all week ( see my pulled pork post) and had a couple of turkey size chicken breast thawed out but what to do with them? There was a Southwest pork tenderloin recipe on Nibble Me This I have been wanting to try but I had chicken not pork. Oh well, is it really that big of a leap? I did it anyways. Very quick to do if you don't count the one hour for brining that you don't have to do. Excellent results. I'm sure it's wonderful with a pork tenderloin. What I did: 1) The breasts were huge. Grilling was going to be a problem. So I pounded them out to about 3/4 inch thick. 2) I had time so I did a simple brine. 3) I had a huge surface area to cover so I increase the amount of rub by 100% 4) There are only 2 of us so I decrease the cumin mayo by 50% Results: Meat 9.0 Taste 9.0 Tenderness 9.0 (brining is a good thing). The chicken was very good but as my wife said, "Where's the garlic?" This is my clue to be sure to include the garlic in all future grillings. She's just a garlic fiend. Cumin Mayo 9.5 Loved the buffed up mayo.

Ingredients

2 Skinless boneless chicken breasts. Brine3 cups cold water3 T table salt1 1/2 T sugar Rub3 T cumin2 t chili powder1/2 t black pepper1 1/2 t salt only if you don't brine. Do not add if you brine. Cumin Mayo2 t cumin1/2 cup mayo1 t lime juice1 t dried cilantro

Instructions

1) Trim chicken breast and if large pound out to about 3/4 inch thick with meat mallet.2) In a 1 gallon zip lock bag combine 3 cups cool water, 3 T table salt and 1 1/2 T sugar. Mix well and add chicken. Squeeze out most of air and seal. Mix well and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.3) Remove from refrigerator, pat dry and let set at room temp for 20-30 minutes.4) Will #3, make up Cumin Mayo as below and preheat clean and oil grill.5) Mix rub and apply approximately 1/4 to each side of a chicken beast and rub in well.6) Grill on medium heat for 6 minutes per side until internal temp is 165 or better. It to exactly 12 minutes for me total time.7) Remove from grill and let set 5 minutes before serving.

Details

Prep time: 2 hour Cook time: 12 mins Total time: 2 hour 12 mins Yield: 2 servings

Updated

April 28, 2011