We Forgot The Dinner Review!!!!

[cjs]

Boy, everyone of us is susceptible to CRS!!

The Plank-Cooked Chicken
Grilled Pineapple
Sweet Potato Salad

I made it so long ago, I'm ready to make it again! We love the chicken and the subtle flavor of the cedar planks. Layering the poultry over the pineapple also gave the fruit a nice unexpected flavor. I followed the recipe as written and did not rinse the chicken after brining - I've never not rinsed before, but it sure did not need it either! This part of the dinner was definitely a 9+.

The Pineapple also was to die for and we followed up three or four nites in a row using up the other quarters of it - I learned something from this recipe (besides this particular brining doesn't need to be rinsed ) I left the core attached to the quarters when I cleaned the pineapple and after the grilling, it was as tender as the 'meat' of the fruit. I've always removed it - even for grilling. Two great ideas!

The Sweet potato salad was not as big a hit altho we loved the vinaigrette and will use that a lot in the future. We didn't dislike the salad, we just weren't real impressed with it. I even stayed true to the recipe to the point I bot honey-roasted peanuts, which I never do because we can't stay out of them. (They are hidden in the bowels of the freezer now...till Roy goes on a raiding mission.)

Served a Columbia Crest '03 Cab/Merlot blend with dinner. It was wonderful with the salad, but not as good a match withthe chicken.

We loved the dinner and all kinds of thanks to....was it Jenny who chose this????? (And where is she with her critique?? )

Who else made the dinner???

What's next? The hamburger on the 4th (or near the 4th)?

[pjcooks]

Oh, well, I knew there was a reason I was looking at the planks in Walmart just couldn't remember it

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reviewing!

PJ

[bjcotton]

I didn't participate in this one Jean. Dave was down in Portland this weekend. He and Marilee found some wine on sale that they really enjoyed, haven't the foggiest as to what it was, but they liked it so much he took a case home with him and had Marilee get a case of the other. It was on sale for half-price...$4.99. I'd call him if I were you and demand a sample bottle. He said he doubted you'd like cheap wine and I told him you didn't care what it cost as long as it was tasty. Make him give you a bottle of each, just to sample you understand

[farnfam]

We loved it, loved it, loved it!!! The brined chicken tasted wonderful. The flavor from the plank was awesome as was the pineapple. We enjoyed the sweet potato salad, lots of interesting flavors going on there with the bit of jalopeño, yummy dressing. We give this 9.5 YUMS!!
Cis
PS Didn't notice somehow that it said to rinse it, so I didn't. Glad for that oversight

[cjs]

"PS Didn't notice somehow that it said to rinse it, so I didn't. "

That's just it, cis, it didn't say to rinse it - that's what surprised me. Was really pleased with the results.

[Half_Baked]

I can't wait to make the dinner review meal this week, sorry I'm late. I knew it was going to be great and now I'm really chomping at the bit to make it.

I've been cooking/delivery/fast fooding to please Mr HB's grandkids (5yo girl twins, a 9yo girl, 10 and 12 yo boys) for the last few days so I've been hitting the boards briefly to eat vicariously through everyone's dishes. They are leaving after dinner today so I'll take a couple of days to recover. They wear Granddaddy and me out...

[TwilightKitten]

When was this due? I was thinking it was the 4th...talk about CRS.

We loved this dish and can’t wait to make it again. We had some trouble getting the chicken cooked through without burning it (our planks caught fire just after we checked on them). The part of the chicken that was resting on the pineapple took longer to cook than the rest of the chicken. Did anyone else have that trouble? It doesn’t matter though because it was so delicious and smoky. I absolutely adored the sweet smoky pineapple too. It was so good I wish I had grilled the rest of it…but we snacked on it while I was cooking.

Everyone loved the sweet potato salad, though not everyone wanted the mint…I personally loved the mint and wouldn’t have it any other way. The stores around here only carry orange sweet potatoes so I didn’t have that pretty contrast with the yellow, but it still tasted fantastic. I did have some trouble with cooking times…the potatoes didn’t cook as quickly as the recipe said even though I got the thinnest sweet potatoes I could find. Maybe they were still too thick.

Oh, and I used maple planks because I couldn’t find cedar fast enough…I was really excited about making this dish. I don’t know if cedar would make much difference but I will try to find it for next time. And good Lord, I need to find a cheaper source for these planks…they were $10.99 for 2 at Whole Foods! I am so going to Walmart…

[cjs]

I had only one flare up that needed dousing during the grilling time, Tammy, so didn't have a probalem. I found cedar boards at Costco for $8.00 for 6, so didn't look at Walmart.

I'm so glad so many of us liked this dinner! It was a fun summer one.