foil pack adventure part 1
beerorkid | April 4, 2010
Since it is nice out and we are always looking to create something new and a bit healthier, we figured some foil wrapped meals would be fun to try. Figured chicken would be a good meat for this since Theresa is not fond of seafood. We really like the flavor for a good seared piece of meat, so the idea was to partially cook the chicken in a very flavorful pouch and then finish it off on the grill.
Was kind of hard to decide what to include in the foil with the chicken. We were thinking something like a marinade coating the chicken and some fresh vegetables to impart their flavor.
Decided to use carrots, celery, onion, red pepper, and garlic for the main flavors. I put all of those along with some olive oil, basil, and lemon juice into a cup and used my stick blender to make up a goop to coat the chicken.
Made up some bread. I am so loving making this bread. It is soooo good. I need to figure out how to cook it on the grill somehow this summer. As long as the windows are open I will keep making it though.
Halved fingerling potatoes and carrot slices all gooped up will be our side.
I had a monster chicken bewb and flattened it and let it soak in the goop for about 30 minutes. Then made a bed of the vegetables on the top and bottom with all the goop in there along with some butter.
Both packs flipped a bunch and peeled the foil on the chicken. It smells amazing. The chicken looked done and I for some strange reason took it into the house and cut it in half to see if it was done. Would have been a great time to use my new fancy instant read digi thermometer. Doh. It was still raw on the inside so back on the grill it went.
The potato and carrots were done perfectly so we sat down to eat…….
Meh…. on all accounts. Hardly any flavor for both foil packs. The chicken only had a slight bit of flavor and the potato/carrots were bland as heck. It was kind of crushing because of how much work went into the meal with so many ingredients.
Things we learned:
* the chicken was not in the pack with all the veg long enough. It did not have enough time to pick up the flavors
* I should of tenderized the bewb more and maybe cut the chicken up to allow it to get more flavor
* more juice/marinade would not just impart more flavor, but would of steamed it more
* it is the flavor that counts, not the char from direct cooking
Not sure what the next foil pack adventure will consist of, but we are determined to keep at it till we get it right. Doing this on the grill reduces the dishes we need to do and it just awesome to be grilling again. We have used Itilian dressing in a foil pack with chicken before and it is super awesome. Will make my own dressing for the next one. If you guys have any good recepies for foil packs on the grill I would love to hear from ya.
That sounds really good! Too bad you didn't enjoy it.
Mr. T | April 4, 2010That sounds really good! Too bad you didn’t enjoy it. Perhaps marinading the chicken longer would have helped? In my own experiences, foil-wrapped items cook fast if using a high temperature. I’ve done foil wrapped fish before – equally bland because it cooks so fast.
you know...these are actually a family favorite of mine.
Errandbug Lincoln Restaurant Delivery | May 5, 2010you know…these are actually a family favorite of mine. We call them hobo dinners. But we take ground beef, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, a little garlic, tablespoon or so of butter, and whatever else may be laying around. Ground turkey works good also. Throw it on the grill and it all kind of simmers together and comes out awesome every single time. I found the idea when I was younger and in boy scouts…these tin foil meals were a staple at our camp outs. I have learned to wrap them twice and to be careful unwrapping them as there is some very not steam trapped inside there.
Try it next time with hamburger…the chicken does not get juicy enough in there for everything else to get the flavors going. If chicken again…throw a couple tablespoons of butter in there to give it some juices to simmer in…that will help it a ton.
Been thinking something like that would be good. Trying
beerorkid | May 5, 2010Been thinking something like that would be good. Trying for sure. Thanks.