Grill Thrill

It's that time of year -- the sun is out (most of thetime), the air is fresh and fragrant, and there's warmth to be felt. Therefore, it's time for men (and women) to exercize their inalienable right to burn meat in their back yard, under the open sky as God intended.

A while back I managed to find a charcoal smoker at a garage sale for five bucks. This weekend, I cleaned it up, and tried my hand for the first time at "real" barbecue. as a novice, I started with a small piece of meat, a 1-pound beef brisket, dry rubbed with a rub I made from scratch. It came out nicely, so I will try some pork BBQ next. However, I still consider myself a learner, so for now I'll be reading barbecue recipes, not writing them.

However, I am still very confident in my outdoor grilling skills, as evidenced by my steelhead recipe. So today I decided to share with you all the very first recipe I ever invented for cooking on a grill. While it's not barbecue, the recipe does benefit if you incorporate one element of bbq -- wood smoke. However, I'd recommend a wood like apple or oak or alder, not mesquite, though hickory would probably do fine.

So, without further ado:

Inside Out Grilled Chicken Sorta Blue

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 slices smoked Swiss cheese
8 slices smoked ham
1 cup white wine (Pinot Gris, Riesling, or Gewürztraminer)
2 sprig thyme
Salt
Pepper
1 tbsp honey

Preparation:
Marinade the chicken breasts overnight in the white wine and one of the thyme sprigs. Place the ham slices, the honey, and the other thyme sprig in a sealed aluminum foil packet. While grilling the chicken, place the foil packet to the side of the grill where the heat is lower. Salt and pepper the chicken and grill over medium heat. About 5-10 minutes before the chicken is done, remove the ham from the foil packet and place 2 slices on top of each chicken breast. Cover each breast with a slice of Swiss cheese; continue to grill until the cheese melts. Remove the chicken breasts and plate. Drizzle with honey mustard sauce, garnish with more thyme.

Honey Mustard Sauce:
½ cup yellow mustard
¼ cup honey
1 tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp paprika
Dash cayenne
Dash chili powder
Dash powdered ginger


Place the mustard in a small bowl and pour in the honey. Mix in all spices, refrigerate.