In Memory Of Karen Nicole Smith, 1972 - 2016

Pineapple glazed grilled chicken.


caribbean grill chickenThis was supposed to be a guava glazed grilled chicken recipe, but like old Mother Hubbard… the cupboard was bare when I went rummaging. My mistake. My sister gave me a bottle of jam she had brought back from the islands her last visit and for some reason I though it was guava jam. After-all, that’s one of the main jams we make on the islands. It turns out it was pineapple jam, so I had to improvise. The final texture of the glaze was a bit different, since the pineapple jam was a bit fibrous and not as smooth and gelatin-like, like guava jam.

I leave for the islands in a few hours (been counting down the hours just like when I was a kid and we had to go on a school trip) so I’ll try to get some homemade guava jam to use when I return on the guava glaze. If all fails, I’ll just pick up some local guava jam in the grocery store.

This is very basic, but adds a new twist on regular grilled chicken. Normally when I do grill chicken breast, it’s usually the ones with the bone and skin still attached. However this time all I had were the skinless variety, but at least it wasn’t boneless. Boneless and skinless chicken breast can become dry very fast on the grill if you don’t know how to control your heat and proper grilling technique.

3 chicken breast
salt
fresh cracked black pepper
1 cup pineapple jam
2 tablespoons orange juice
3-4 table spoons pineapple juice
2 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Remove any excess fat from the chicken breast and rinse with the juice of 1/2 a lime or lemon and water. Then sprinkle with a little salt and fresh ground black pepper.

trini bbq chicken

For the glaze.. put the jam, pineapple juice, dash of salt / pepper, mustard and orange juice and heat on low to medium heat in a saucepan. Using a whisk, blend everything together as it comes to a simmer and allow to form a smooth thick texture (less than 5 minutes). Place this in your metal bbq sauce pan with brush. I use a metal container so I can put it on top of the BBQ as the chicken cooks, so it remains warm.

caribbean pineapple bbq glaze

trinidad pineapple glaze sauce

Grill your chicken as you would normally do, but don’t start glazing until the last 5 minutes of cooking. If you put the glaze on too early, you’ll find that it will burn before the chicken is fully cooked due to the natural sugars in the glaze. I normally bring my grill to between 350 and 400 degrees and cook the chicken (depending on thickness for about 20 minuets or so. During the grilling process I flip the chicken a couple times and turn them on the angle to get the lovely grill marks.

here is the chicken when it’s 5 minutes to being completely cooked…

bbq chicken with pineapple glaze

Here’s the same chicken after I’ve glazed it a few times with the pineapple glaze from the recipe above. I usually turn the heat down a bit on the BBQ and brush the glaze on as I flip the chicken over a few times.

grilled chicken with pineapple glaze

pineapple glaze sauce

As mentioned above, I’ll be away on the islands for a little under 2 weeks, so I may not have time to post any recipes until then. However, if I become the designated cook during our stay I’ll be sure to give my sister’s kitchen a test drive and post some recipes here. Also check out the CaribbeanPot YouTube channel on a regular basis as it’s my intention to show you a bit of the culinary culture of the islands during my stay! Including street food, markets and anything else relating to food and dining.

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16 Comments

  1. Kay
    December 21, 2014 / 2:00 pm

    Great recipe as usual !! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

  2. Delia Sookhoo
    August 22, 2014 / 8:51 pm

    LOL…you even got the jam at HiLo! This recipe is a must try!

  3. jenny
    March 31, 2013 / 9:35 am

    Hi, Chris good recipe,what about some garlic and freh ground pimentoes

  4. Nama Alexander
    November 29, 2012 / 4:40 pm

    im gonna try this tonight

  5. Kecia
    October 13, 2012 / 5:52 pm

    The chicken looks great Chris. Beautiful color and I'm sure the glaze gives it a great flavor. Have a safe trip there and back. I'm sure you will have stories about your trip.

  6. donna
    July 16, 2012 / 4:20 pm

    this is another recipe i would try

  7. carlene ahoon
    April 14, 2012 / 10:34 am

    Thanx for the recipe

  8. matt
    January 19, 2012 / 11:32 am

    How would you glaze it if the skin was on?

  9. myrna
    September 28, 2011 / 8:14 pm

    that was very good ty

  10. Lynda
    May 16, 2011 / 4:53 am

    this sounds really yummy will definitely try it at our next bbq party

  11. anika
    December 17, 2010 / 8:01 am

    hey Chris I have one question, do you use any other type of seasoning except the salt and pepper to the chicken before grilling as we Trini's say (Ground seasoning) ?

  12. anika
    December 1, 2010 / 2:22 pm

    It looks great will try for sure

  13. peter thomas
    March 4, 2010 / 3:21 am

    mmmmmmm that looks so good Chris, will definatly be trying that out :))

    • admin
      March 4, 2010 / 4:51 pm

      Peter, let me know how it turns out.

      happy cooking

      chris..

  14. October 9, 2009 / 11:00 am

    That chicken looks delicious. The pictures are a great addition to your recipes!

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