Corona Chicken In 10 Easy Steps - A Great Summer Grilling Recipe - Wrapped In Bacon? Must Be Delicious

Corona Chicken Recipe

Corona Chicken is a delicious recipe I hi-jacked and put my own twist on. I first saw this recipe featured on Anthony Bourdain's television show "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel. I made a few small changes to suit my taste and this is what you have, delicious Corona Chicken.

This dish is delicious served with a side of Spanish Rice. This dish is also versatile in that it can be cooked on outside on the grill or in the oven depending on the season and weather. Outdoors on the grill adds a smokiness and complexity to the flavor of the dish although indoors in the oven seems to get the bacon a bit crisper. 

Ingredients

(6) Chicken Breasts - I prefer skinny cut chicken breasts although you can use regular chicken breasts if you either pound them flat or butterfly them. The toughest part of this recipe is rolling the filling in the chicken so keep that in mind when shopping for your chicken.

(1) LargeWhite Onion Chopped - 

(1) Medium to large sized Jalapeno

(1) Bottle Teryaki Sauce

(1) Package of Bacon - The thicker and longer the bacon the better, makes the rolling process easier.

(1) Brick of Colby Jack Cheese or a bag of shredded cheese. Personally If find a brick of Colby Jack cut makes rolling up the finished product easier.    

(1) Box of toothpicks 

Instructions

1. Ideally you should marinate your chicken overnight, however if your like myself, not a planner, marinating for a few minutes while you do the rest of your prep work for this dish will suffice. Add your chicken and teryaki sauce to a Tupperware container, shake, and let sit in the fridge until the chicken is needed.

2. Begin by chopping your onion and jalapeno. You want the chop to be small enough to fit into and roll into the chicken but large enough that it doesn't cook down to nothing and so the dish has some added texture. Once chopped combine your onion and jalapeno in a bowl. While you have your cutting board and knife out take your block of Colby Jack cheese if you opt for the block over the shredded cheese. Cut the block into long rectangular strips. This cheese will need to be rolled up into the chicken later so keep that in mind when deciding what size blocks to cut.

3. Though it's not absolutely necessary I like to pre-cook my bacon for a few minutes at a low heat on the griddle. You want the bacon to pre-cook a little so it crisps while cooking on the oven/grill. Don't cook it so long it becomes crispy or brittle as you won't be able to roll your chicken in it later.

4. If you bought thin chicken breasts no additional prep work is needed. If you bought regular thick boneless chicken breasts there are a few methods to prep them. A. You could pound the chicken breasts flat with a mallet making them have more surface area as well as more malleable and easier to roll. B. You could butterfly the chicken breasts, again making them easier to roll. One last trick,when  you get to the step where you roll the filling in the chicken breast and are having trouble keeping everything contained take a sharp serrated knife and cut a quarter inch by quarter inch strip out of the center of the breast. This will help the filling sit in the chicken breast better and will make the rolling process easier as well.

5. Now you're ready to roll!!! Bring the bowl of onions & jalapenos, the chicken, the bacon, and your blocks of cheese to your work area. You should also have a box of toothpicks at the ready. If your bacon isn't long enough or your chicken breasts are extra large you may need them to close the chicken and or secure the bacon to the chicken wrap. A helpful tip is to soak the toothpicks in water prior to using them. This well prevent them from burning on the grill and or in the oven.

6. Lay out two strips of bacon parallel to each other. These should be running longways away from you the same direction as if you were to outstretch your arms in front of you. Lay one strip of bacon perpendicular across the two strips on top of them. Then lay the chicken across the top of the bacon.

7. Add a strip of strip of the Colby Jack you cut across the top of the chicken. Then add the onion and jalapeno mixture over the top of the cheese.

8. Now comes the difficult part. This will take some trial and error and the more you do the better you will get. Roll the chicken as best you can around the cheese, jalapeno and onion. The two strips of bacon running parallel to each other will be used to secure the rolled up chicken and keep the filling inside. The single strip running long ways will be used to roll up the ends of the chicken and keep the cheese from running out the ends. If need be use a few toothpicks to secure the roll.

9. Take a brush and the leftover marinate the chicken was marinating in and brush the chicken roll-ups with teryaki. Pay special attention to really get the bacon, it will form a delicious crust and add flavor and texture. 

teryaki sauce drip off your chicken is not sitting in a grease bath. 

NOW IT'S TIME TO EAT!! Serve with a side of Spanish rice. I find a fruit bowl of cubed pineapples and cliced mango goes deliciously as well.

Extra Tips...

- Rolling these up is the toughest part of the recipe. You want to try to get as much filling inside while still being able to roll up and secure the chicken. 

- Soak your toothpicks in water before using, this will help keep them from burning on the grill.

- Though marinating the chicken overnight isn't necessary it adds a depth of flavor to the dish.

- Using thin chicken breasts saves you the trouble of pounding or butterflying the chicken.

- As for the cheese. Shredded cheese seems to melt better inside the chicken and has a better consistency, however a cubed brick of cheese is easier to work with.