This is becoming one of my family's favorite chicken dishes. It got it's roots from a tried-and-true classic Parmesan-Crusted Chicken recipe (for the tradtional oven) that my wife has always enjoyed. But I was looking to make it a little more fun and modify the process for best results on the Ninja Woodfire family of cookers.
It's super easy. Wanna try it? Here we go!
Ingredients (serves 2):
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 fresh Jalapenos*
4 Tablespoons mayonnaise
1 cup Cheetos
1/2 cup fresh coarsely-grated Monterey Jack Cheese
1/4 cup fresh grated (to your liking) Parmesan cheese
Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Onion, and Garlic Powders to suit.
*I have indicated FRESH jalapenos because we enjoy the texture. But pickled would work just as well. Especially in the final garnish!
Grate, slice and dice...
1. Dice one jalapeno. This will go into the mayonnaise/cheese mix. You can remove the seeds or not. I've heard all the wive's tales about the seeds, or the white veiny bits, being where the heat is. But I've found neither to be consistently true.
2. Slice the other jalapeno (1/8" or 3-4mm slices). This will be a top garnish on each breast. 3. Coarsely grate the 1/2 cup of Monterey Jack cheese. I find that the coarser the grate, the better the cheese will stay together on top of the chicken (rather than running off)
4. Grate the 1/4 cup of FRESH Parmesan cheese.
DO NOT use packaged, pre-shredded cheeses for this dish! Due to the cellulose used to keep manufactured cheese from clumping, they do not melt well.
Now, let's smash stuff!
NOTE: For steps 5 and 6, DO NOT seal the bag! Trapped air could cause the bags to blow out as you pound them, making an awful mess.
5. Put the 1 cup of Cheetos into a gallon-size (you can use a quart-size. I just like to have room to move the contents around) zip seal bag. Pound them to bread-crumb size using the smooth side of a meat tenderizer (I like the one from OXO, because the head has nice mass to it!) Be careful not to pound them too small, or they will begin to sick together too much. Place the bag aside.
6. Trim each chicken breast of any fat, tendons, or thin dangly bits that would cook up tough or dry. Then put the breasts (you can do them one at a time or both together if they will fit) into another zip-seal bag and pound them, again using the smooth side of your tenderizer, until they are about 1/2" to 3/4" (13-19mm) in thickness. If anything has become too thin or misshapen, cut it off. We want a nice presentation and the food to cook evenly!
Place the chicken aside.
Time to make the goo 7. Add the 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise to a small, breakfast cereal-size bowl. This volume is an approximation. I use one heaping dollop with a soup spoon (which I estimate to be about 1.5 to 2 tablespoons) for each breast I plan to cook 8. Add the diced jalapenos and Monterey Jack cheese to the bowl with the mayonnaise and stir until well combined. Set aside.
NOTE: I would imagine that mixing this up a day ahead and letting it sit in the refrigerator overnight would allow the jalapeno flavor to more thoroughly permeate the mix. But to be honest, I've always made this dish mostly on a whim, and I've never tried doing that.
9. Roll out a foot or so of aluminum foil (or AL-YOU-MIN-EE-UM as you Euro-folk say!) Enough that you can lay out all the breasts you plan to cook. Place your chicken breasts on the foil and season both sides as you like. My typical chicken seasoning is sea salt, restaurant-ground black pepper, onion and garlic powders.
Move your now seasoned chicken to a platter or pan.
10. Now, go preheat your cooker. On the Ninja Woodfire I really like Roast mode for this. I set it at 350ºF (175ºC) with a 15-minute timer.
Let's put it all together.
11. Place your chicken breasts (they can touch but not overlap) on an elevated baking rack.
If you don't have a suitable rack, that's ok. You can cook this successfully on the standard grill/griddle plate. You'll just need a good, wide spatula to get the breasts onto and off the cooker.
Unless I'm in grill mode, I use an elevated wire rack for nearly everything I cook on the Ninja Woodfire. This achieves two things: First, it improves airflow around the food items so they cook more evenly. Second, it makes it SO MUCH EASIER to get food on and off the cooker!
12. Spread the mayonnaise/cheese/jalapeno mix evenly across the surface of the chicken breasts.
NOTE: Spread this as thick or thin as you like, and don't force yourself to use all of the mix. The amounts suggested here are for what I consider the maximum reasonable volume, where things will stay on the meat rather than sliding off. We often have about a half to a full tablespoon of the mayonnaise mix left over. 13. Sprinkle the crumbled Cheetos over the mayonnaise/cheese/jalapeno mix. I cut the zip seal off the bag for this, so the crumbs don't hang up in the ridges.
14. Lay the jalapeno slices edge to edge (like buttons on a shirt) down the center of the chicken breasts. 15. Lightly dust the entire surface with the freshly grated parmesan.
Now we're cookin!
16. Place the chicken into the preheated Woodfire and in 15 minutes, you're done! 17. Let the chicken rest (either removed from the cooker and on a baking sheet or pan, or just there on the Woodfire with the lid OPEN) for about 10 minutes. Then slice it between the jalapenos and serve!
COOK NOTES: A. Always cook to final temperature, NOT TIME! The 15 minutes is just an estimate based on previous cooks in the chosen mode and cook temperature. The actual time to cook will vary with how thick your meat is, its temperature when it goes on the cooker, as well as the weather! You want the final internal temperature to be somewhere between 160ºF and 180ºF (71ºC and 82ºC). It would be wise to check the internal temperature to see where you are after about 10-12 minutes using an instant-read thermometer. As you may be done sooner, OR need to add a few minutes more to the cook. B. For users of the models without the Roast mode, I'd suggest using the Smoke mode (simply don't add pellets or bypass the IGN function) at the same set temperatures. Once the chicken reaches 150ºF (65ºC), switch to Air Crisp mode to brown the tops. Finish to the same temperature mentioned previously.
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