One of my favorite tips I have picked up from grilling all this past summer has been …. butter!
Dotting butter on top of my choice of protein helps, especially when the protein is a bit lean (fish or chicken breasts). I usually use oil still for chicken thighs, but when it comes to a leaner piece of meat, a bit of butter keeps the meat moist, and makes a bit of a sauce for it to cook in.
This works especially well for another idea I’ve been practicing more: grilling packets!
Basically, put your food in layers in foil, then fold it up and grill it until cooked through. With the above, the corn was okay, but I wouldn’t do it again. It was too much of a pain to cut the cobs into smaller chunks. Some tips with grilling packets:
- Use lots of seasoning
- Put the more watery parts (like any vegetables) on the bottom since they can help protect your meat from browning too quickly and they are less likely to dry out
- Don’t forget to add some fat (I prefer butter for these) and a bit of liquid
- Don’t add too much liquid because it can water down the flavor
- Keep the packets on one side mostly, but flip to get some nice browning on the chicken…if you are using fish instead, then just grill the one side.
- Don’t forget to check for doneness
- Divide your ingredients evenly, and make sure the protein isn’t too thick (like with chicken breasts, split them to help them cook a bit faster)
As usual, I am not the best at making picture-perfect plates, but this did taste good and it made chicken breasts taste good!
