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Caribbean Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

The title should speak for itself… It’s a spicy chicken with a cool pineapple salsa so the flavors mix to help keep the dish mild but you can feel the spice creep up on you until the pineapple saves your tongue (Picture the point of “Uh oh, this is gunna burn, oh sh–…” to “Ahhhhhh, nice….”) This effect is an awesome experience so don’t be afraid of the ingrediants! Click on for the goodies and pictures!

Important Note: Portion sizes will require you to think how much you believe is necessary based on personal taste. This is the same reason I’m hesitant to give tablespoon amounts, teaspoon amounts, etc… Since it varies depending on the size of the meal you are preparing and personal taste. Use good judgement, and if you are unsure take a lick of the seasoning before using it to ensure you understand the complexity it may add to the food.

First, prep the salsa (To serve cold on top of the hot chicken – tasted good and I don’t like the smell of warm, canned pineapple):

Suits up to 1.5-2 pounds of chicken:
1 Red Pepper (Medium – Diced)
1 Green Pepper (Small – Diced)
1 Red Onion (Medium – Diced)
2 Jalepenos (Mild – Medium sized – Diced)
1 – 20 oz Can Sliced Pineapple (Cut into chunks, or use the crushed kind)
~ 2 Tbsp of Crushed Red Pepper
~ 1.5-2 tbsp of Cilantro (I used the dry kind, worked great)
~ 3 Tbsp of Honey

Combine all ingrediants into a bowl, and stir a bunch.. Pour some (Half a cup?) of the pineapple juice to slosh around for good measure, cover, and put in fridge while you do other stuff.

Here’s the prep for thawed chicken breasts (1 Hour marinade):

Kosher Salt
Lime Juice
Red wine vinegar (7.5% acidity)
Dijon Mustard
Cayenne Pepper

Against all orthodox prep methods puncture the chicken breast (NOT ALL THE WAY THROUGH, more like halfway) on one side down the entire length of the breast. Do this for each one.

Sprinkle the kosher salt over the breast to taste and then carefully pour the lime juice to cover the top part of the breast (It’s okay if there is a small amount of excess, just ensure lime juice drips over the top of the breast entirely)

Flip the breast over so the punctures are face down into the lime juice and pour the red wine vinegar over the breast in small moderation (It’s pretty potent stuff). Allow to sit for about 15 minutes or so. Keep the chicken on a plate that will allow the chicken to soak in the juice and vinegar.

Now, pour approximately 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard over each breast and rub it all over including the grooves of the punctures and leaving a thin layer around the chicken. Sprinkle a thin layer of cayenne on the punctured side (Make sure it’s covered), then place back in the marinade with the punctures face down, cover with a light peppering of Cayenne and put in the fridge for another 45 minutes to an hour – The longer the stronger, but 1 hour turns out great.

This is what the chicken looked like before I took it to the grill (Puncture side up):

When ready to cook get your grill to 300-350 and go grab the chicken. Flip the chicken breast over on the plate, cover with another layer of cayenne pepper and take to the grill! Cook at roughly 300 till juices are clear or use a meat thermometer and remove from grill at about 172 fahrenheit. It took about 15-20 minutes, your time will vary, just make sure you close the grill 5 minutes at a time and flip each opening to avoid black chicken. Remove from grill and cover chicken with Salsa and serve with desired sides… in this case we did sweet corn, but rice always works, too.

Finally, ENJOY! Here’s a snap of the finished meal. I really liked the colors.

Finished Caribbean Chicken

Last Thoughts: While it didn’t turn out deadly spicy to require the “cool” salsa (Certainly will fix this in the future), I was surprised by the honey bringing out a nice tang and sweetness to the salsa even though it had jalepenos. It was almost a food on it’s own like a pepper salad with some onion mixed in. It was a bold change from my typical fail-safe BBQ recipe, and an awesome switch from the salmon fever we’ve had (More on that soon). I’d say the next time I get a chance I’d grill or smoke this mixture with some light oil while cooking another spicy meal like steak or ribs.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 7:28 pm and is filed under Food P0RN. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Caribbean Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

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