How to Smoke a Turkey Breast on the Grill

Looking for a slice of Thanksgiving any time of the year, in less than two hours?

Cooking a whole turkey is an ordeal. There’s a lot of prep work, it takes days to thaw (while it consumes your entire refrigerator), and then it takes hours to cook. Done right, it’s delicious and totally worth the effort. But still, an ordeal.

A turkey breast, on the other hand, thaws overnight, doesn’t take up too much fridge space, and can be smoked in less than two hours (just enough time to make corn bread dressing while it smokes, but that’s a recipe for another day . . . stay tuned).

With just a little prep work, you can have a moist, juicy, flavorful smoked turkey any day of the year – give it a shot!

Ingredients:

1 turkey breast (about 4-5 pounds)
2 tablespoons butter

Brine ingredients:

Water (about 2 quarts – enough to cover the whole breast)
½ cup salt
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup lemon juice (or two lemons, cut in half and squeezed)
1 tablespoon dried rosemary (or 2 sprigs fresh rosemary)
1 tablespoon dried thyme (or 2 sprigs fresh)

Rub ingredients:

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon herbed poultry seasoning

Directions:

1.    The night before you’re planning to smoke the turkey, mix the brining ingredients in a large bowl and submerge the turkey. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2.    When you’re ready to cook, fill a chimney starter with charcoal and begin to heat the coals. Soak wood chunks in water.
3.    While the charcoal is getting hot, prep the turkey. Remove it from the brine, and discard solution. Pat the turkey dry. Rub it with the butter, then sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, herbed poultry seasoning and paprika (feel free to mix up the spices to get the flavor you want).
4.    When the coals are ready, set up your grill for indirect heat (like you would for BBQ pork shoulder). Place charcoal on one side of the grill. Place a drip pan on the other side, next to the goals. Place soaked wood chunks directly on the charcoal, then add the grill grate.
5.    Place the turkey above the drip pan, on the opposite side of the grill from the charcoal and wood. Cover the grill, with the holes in the lid directly above the turkey.

6.    Smoke turkey, covered, for 40 minutes. Rotate the turkey 180 degrees, add newly soaked wood chunks, and recover.
7.    Smoke turkey another 40 minutes. Rotate turkey again, add more wood chunks, and insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast, not touching the bone.
8.    Continue smoking turkey until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remove turkey from the grill. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving. Enjoy!

If you like this recipe, please be sure to click on the links below to share it! And don’t forget to follow @youcangrillthat on Twitter!

Pulled Pork Leftover Edition – Carnitas Burritos!

I’ve been smoking A LOT of pork shoulders lately, and while I could eat BBQ pork sandwiches just about every day, it’s always nice to have a little variety. Of course, when you’ve already done the work of smoking the shoulder, you’re looking for a recipe for the leftovers that’s quick and easy. For leftover pulled pork, it’s hard to beat carnitas burritos.

I’m going to keep this recipe pretty vague. In fact, it’s not really a recipe so much as a suggestion – if you have leftover pork, make some burritos. That said, here’s what I used:

Ingredients

Leftover smoked pork shoulder (here’s my recipe for smoking BBQ pork on the grill)
One can of black beans
1 cup of white rice, cooked according to package directions
Shredded cheese
Salsa of your choice (here’s a great recipe for salsa with grilled corn)
Plain Greek yogurt – a tasty, healthy substitute for sour cream. Bet you won’t taste the difference!
Tortillas, warmed on stove, grill, or in microwave
Lettuce (grilled if you want!)

Directions

1.    Directions? Seriously? Ok, I’ll play along. Place tortilla on plate. Pile all other ingredients high. Wrap up in tortilla. Eat!

If you like this “recipe,” please be sure to click on the links below to share it! And don’t forget to follow @youcangrillthat on Twitter!

Peanut Butter, Apple and Oatmeal Cookies – for Dogs!

When I grill, my dog Mollie is always my number one grilling buddy. Don’t worry; she doesn’t handle the food, though not for a lack of trying. Her primary jobs, in addition to keeping me company, are protecting the grill from squirrels, making sure that anything I spill gets cleaned up right away, and barking at any potential intruders into our backyard.

However, she’s always devastated when the food comes off the grill and she doesn’t get to eat. The unfairness of it all! She toils away for hours helping prepare what certainly smells like a delicious meal, and she doesn’t even a taste? That’s just wrong.

So for her birthday, I cooked some cookies on the grill that were just for Mollie. These are really healthy treats for dogs, and she LOVED them. I’m sure your four-legged friends will too.

Mollie attacking her kong to get a cookie out!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 egg
½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 tablespoons molasses
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 apple, cored and finely chopped (or grated)
Nonstick cooking spray

Directions:

1.    Mix the peanut butter, egg, apple sauce and molasses well.
2.    Add the apple and dry ingredients and mix well.
3.    Spoon cookie dough onto well-greased baking sheet (one you don’t mind putting right on the grill).
4.    Heat your charcoal and spread the coals into one layer covering the bottom of the grill.
5.    Place the cookie sheet in the center of the grill. Cook for about 5 minutes, covered. Flip the cookies over, and cook for another 5 minutes. They should be nice and crispy on the outside, but still chewy on the inside.
6.    Remove the cookies from the grill, and let them cool for at least 20 minutes. Then serve!

If you like this recipe, please be sure to click on the links below to share it! And don’t forget to follow @youcangrillthat on Twitter!

Curry Chicken Salad (aka, Indian-Style Beer Can Chicken Leftover Edition)

Looking for a way to stretch your leftovers after making an Indian-style beer can chicken? This curry chicken salad is light and healthy but packed with delicious flavor. It’s perfect to pack for lunch or enjoy on a hot summer day.

Ingredients:

2 leftover chicken breasts from Indian-style beer can chicken

2 cups grapes, sliced in half

1 tablespoon lemon juice

6 oz plain Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon curry powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.    Shred chicken breasts.
2.    Combine all ingredients and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy – it’s that easy!

If you like this recipe, please be sure to click on the links below to share it! And don’t forget to follow @youcangrillthat on Twitter!

Chocolate Pecan Bars – On the Grill!

Looking for another awesome dessert you can bake right on the grill? Try these gooey, chewy, delicious chocolate pecan bars!

Crust ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened
1 ½ cups flour
¾ cup sugar
Quarters-worth of salt

Filling ingredients:

3 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups pecans, halved
3 TPSB butter, melted
¾ cup Karo syrup
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 TBSP bourbon (optional)
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1.    Beat crust ingredients together.
2.    Press crust into heavily greased cast iron pan.
3.    Stir filling ingredients together.
4.    Pour filling over crust.

5.    Set up grill so that coals form a ring around the outside of the grill, leaving the middle of the grill empty.
6.    Place pan in middle of grill. Grill, covered, for 15-20 minutes, until filling is completely melted.
7.    Let cool for at least 30 minutes, preferably at least an hour. It’s going to very tempting to cut in early, I know, but if you do, it’s going to fall apart. After 30-60 minutes, cut into bars and enjoy!

If you like this recipe, please be sure to click on the links below to share it! And don’t forget to follow @youcangrillthat on Twitter!

Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs Stuffed with Ham and Cheese

I LOVE grilling boneless chicken thighs. They’re so much moister and more flavorful than their white meat brethren (yes, I know they’re not as lean, but that’s why they taste so good . . . ). 

They’re also much more forgiving for amateur cooks like me. Chicken is so difficult on the grill because you can’t undercook it without making your guests sick, but if you overcook breasts even slightly, the meat gets really dry, really fast. So there’s a pretty tight window to get them off the grill. But since thighs are so much juicier and tenderer to begin with, you can still have a great-tasting meal even if you leave them on the grill a minute or two too long.

I usually just cover thighs with salt and spices and throw them on the grill, and they always taste great. But for this recipe, I decided to step it up a notch and stuff them with some ham and cheese. The ham adds great flavor, and the cheese is gooey and delicious. Give it a try!

Ingredients (serves 4)

4 boneless chicken thighs
4 thick slices of ham
4 slices of cheese (I used provolone, but feel free to mix it up)
Salt and pepper

Directions:

1.    Open up the boneless thighs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides.
2.    Lay one piece of ham across the middle of each, and then place a slice of cheese over the ham. Fold like so:

 
3.    Grill for about 10 minutes on each side. Watch for flare-ups! Flip them once carefully using a spatula; otherwise, leave them alone. Thighs should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.Remove and enjoy.

If you like this recipe, please be sure to click on the links below to share it! And don’t forget to follow @youcangrillthat on Twitter!

Grilled Watermelon Salad

Watermelon? Yeah, you can grill that!

You want to grill it quickly over high heat, just enough to get some good grill marks. It retains the juicy, crispiness that makes watermelon so tasty and refreshing on hot summer days, but the grill adds an extra layer of flavor.

Grilled watermelon tastes great on its own, but it’s perfect for salads. Wow your guests with this recipe for grilled watermelon with spinach salad, topped with an easy, homemade honey balsamic vinaigrette.

 
Ingredients (serves 4):

*Don’t pay too much attention to the amounts here, except for the dressing. This is just to give you an idea. Serve however much spinach, feta and walnuts you want.

Approximately 6 cups loosely packed raw spinach
About 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
About 4 ounces chopped walnuts (or other nut of your choice)
4 slices watermelon
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt

Honey balsamic vinaigrette ingredients:

½ cup olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
Quarters worth of salt
Quarters worth of pepper
About two tablespoons of honey (Tip: measuring honey is a huge pain, and inevitably you waste some because it gets stuck in the measuring spoons. I just squeeze it straight from the bottle, and have figured out that a good, two-second squeeze is about 1 tablespoon.)

Directions:

1.    Whisk all salad dressing ingredients together in a small bowl (or pour into an empty jar and shake).
2.    Brush watermelon slices very lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle lightly with salt.
3.    Place watermelon on grill over high, direct heat. Cook for about two minutes on each side, so that you get some good grill marks.

 
4.    Plate the spinach, topped with crumbled feta and chopped nuts. Drizzle with the balsamic vinaigrette, then top with the grilled watermelon. Enjoy!

If you like this recipe, please be sure to click on the links below to share it! And don’t forget to follow @youcangrillthat on Twitter!