Summer Squash and Chicken Penne with a Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce

I came up with this dish knowing that we had leftover chicken from last night and fresh summer squash from the garden. The sauce (Lemon Garlic Butter sauce) is very similar to the sauce that I use when making shrimp scampi, but without the shrimp. Not a very photogenic presentation, hence why I only uploaded one photo. 

Summer Squash and Chicken Penne with a Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce

3 summer squash, sliced into thin rounds
cooked chicken, torn by hand into bite size strips
1 lb penne
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
10 leaves fresh sage, minced
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced (should be equal amounts sage to rosemary)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
slightly less than 1/4 cup vermouth
juice of 2 lemons
kosher salt
ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Bring water to boil for pasta. Salt liberally with kosher salt. Cook penne until just al dente, about 10 minutes. In large frying pan sauté the squash until just translucent with 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Remove from pan. In same pan cook the garlic over medium heat until just light brown. Add butter (cut into chunks). Once butter has melted add vermouth, lemon juice, and herbs and simmer for three minutes, stirring throughout. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drain penne and immediately transfer to pan with butter sauce. Add the torn  chicken and cooked squash and stir/toss to combine over medium heat for several minutes to allow everything to become hot. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Smoked Whole Chicken

Now that I am home I can now use the Big Green Egg again. I decided to smoke chicken this time. I have had plenty of chicken recently, so I think I might take a rest before I cook it again. As I usually do when cooking chicken on the grill, I butterflied it and seasoned it well with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. In order to impart the most flavor, I rubbed the salt and pepper underneath and on the outside of the skin. I then put the chickens on the grate which was sitting on top of the ceramic plate setter (feet-up) with a fire box filled about 1/3 full with BGE Lump Charcoal (much better than charcoal briquettes). I also threw on a generous handful of hickory chunks that had been soaking in water for an hour or so for a extra smokey flavor. I cooked the chickens at about 260-290 F for two or three hours until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the thighs reached about 170.
The chickens turned out real good, although grilled barbecue chicken with homemade barbecue sauce is hard to beat.

There is no need to flip the chicken.

Hickory chunks on left and BGE lump charcoal on right. 

Grilled Whole Chicken

When at home I always grill/smoke chicken on our Big Green Egg, although I used a Weber charcoal grill this time because I was at the beach and therefore was without the BGE. This didn't seem to be a problem though, because I was able to cook the chicken the same way and it turned out quite well. I try to use whole butterflied chickens when I grill chicken as I believe they turn out the best.

After butterflying the whole chicken I seasoned it with salt and pepper and placed it on the grill skin-side up over indirect heat. I also added a couple handfuls of hickory chunks for a nice smokey flavor. Because I cook my chicken slowly over indirect heat (I believe this is the best way to grill chicken: it is moist and doesn't get burn on the edges), I do not flip the chicken at all while cooking. I "painted" the bird with my homemade barbecue sauce a couple minutes before (and directly after) removing from the heat.

Luke's advice for grilled chicken:

• use bone-in chicken. whole chickens are ideal (butterfly before cooking)
• season liberally with kosher (big grains) and freshly ground black pepper before cooking
• grill over a low-temperature indirect heat (the exact grill temperature is not too important, especially when using grills such as the Weber kettle grill without a thermometer, but I would aim around 300 F.)
• If planning on applying barbecue sauce as I did here, apply the sauce about 2-5 minutes before removing chicken from the grill to avoid burning)
• Do not overcook!

Pesto Chicken Salad

Pesto is one of those unique foods that is simply amazing. It makes sense once you consider the ingredients: basil, garlic, toasted pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and extra virgin olive oil. Now puree all of that together and you have creamy goodness.

In this recipe (my variation on Sara Foster's recipe in The Foster's Market Cookbook) I actually made a pesto vinaigrette. Starting with basic pesto, I added lemon juice, rice wine vinegar, white wine, extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt and ground black pepper, which resulted in a slightly thinner consistency better suited for a chicken salad. I then mixed this vinaigrette with shredded grilled chicken breast, parmesan cheese, toasted pine nuts and walnuts, basil, and baby arugula and served it over a bed of warm pasta.

Delicious.

This dish is very versatile. I love this salad served over a bed of pasta as I did tonight, but it can easily be used as a filling for a delicious sandwich. It is also just as good cold as it is hot.