Southern Living Night

It took me about 2 years of begging but about a month ago I finally got the coveted invite to my friend Blair's big Southern Living night. You see Blair's aunt and uncle, Betty and Bob, live in Millbrook, AL and every so often will whip up a few of Southern Living's most recent recipes and vote on the best ones. I say whip up but I mean slave over the stove for an entire Sunday. Go check out Blair's blog post and read all the details and recipes from our big night.

So in honor of Blair and her family Tyler and I tried our own little Southern Living night. Blair has given me a subscription to the magazine for about 3 years now and I every month I flip through it and mark the recipes, then quickly forget about them. Not tonight....

picture via Southern Living

Let me tell you, the Grilled Chicken with Fresh Corn Cakes in the July 2011 issue is quite tasty! Allow me to share...

Grilled Chicken with Fresh Corn Cakes

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 lemons
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
3 skinned and boned chicken breasts
3 ears fresh corn, husks removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (6-oz.) package buttermilk cornbread mix
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
8 cooked thick hickory-smoked bacon slices (I crumbled mine)
2 cups loosely packed arugula

Preparation

1. Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Grate zest from lemons to equal 1 Tbsp. Cut lemons in half; squeeze juice from lemons into a measuring cup to equal 1/4 cup.

2. Whisk together lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, next 3 ingredients, and 1 tsp. salt. Reserve 1/4 cup lemon mixture. Pour remaining lemon mixture in a large zip-top plastic freezer bag; add chicken. Seal and chill 15 minutes, turning once. Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade.

3. Brush corn with 1 Tbsp. olive oil; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 tsp. salt.

4. Grill chicken and corn at the same time, covered with grill lid, 20 minutes, turning chicken once and turning corn every 4 to 5 minutes. Remove chicken, and cover. Hold each grilled cob upright on a cutting board, and carefully cut downward, cutting kernels from cob.

5. Stir together cornbread mix and 2/3 cup water in a small bowl until smooth. Stir in basil and 1 cup grilled corn kernels. Pour about 1/4 cup batter for each corn cake onto a hot, lightly greased griddle. Cook cakes 3 to 4 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look dry and cooked; turn and cook other side.

6. Thinly slice chicken. To serve, place 2 corn cakes on each plate, top with chicken and 2 bacon slices. Toss arugula with reserved lemon mixture. Place arugula on bacon, and sprinkle with corn kernels.