Touched By Bacon Grilled Chicken Kabobs

Step 1: Cut chicken breasts into 2-inch pieces, making sure they are the same size so that they will cook uniformly. Place them in a bowl, big enough to hold the chicken, and sprinkle the sea salt over the top. Toss the chicken to thoroughly coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes. This will help to both flavor the chicken and keep it tender.

Step 2: Slice the strips of raw bacon into 2-inch pieces. Place them into a food processor and process, turning the bacon into a thick paste. Sounds weird, but considering that bacon is the King of Flavor, it really gives the chicken a ton of flavor.

Step 3: Into a medium bowl place 2 teaspoons paprika, 3 teaspoons smoked paprika and 5 teaspoons sugar. Toss them together to combine. Add the bacon paste to the bowl and stir well to combine.

Step 4: Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and pat the chicken dry, then spoon the seasoning/paste mixture over the chicken. Toss the chicken thoroughly to combine, using a wooden spoon or clean hands to evenly distribute.

Step 5: Remove the soaked skewers from the water onto sheets of paper towels. Thread the chicken pieces onto the skewers.

Step 6: Fire up your grill and heat it to 350°F.

Step 7: Set the chicken kabobs on the heated grill (REFER TO NOTE II, below). Grill for about 6-8 minutes per side until just about cooked through (the cooking timing depends on the level of heat and size of your chicken cubes, so use your discretion).

Step 8: Approximately 2-3 minutes prior to being ready to remove chicken off the grill, brush each kabob with BBQ sauce.

Step 9: Allow them to cook for 2 to 3 additional minutes so the sauce has a chance to heat through (being careful not overcook so as not to dry it out. Serve with additional BBQ Sauce on the side.

NOTE I: The bamboo skewers are soaked to prevent them from burning when grilling on an open flame. Though it indicates to soak for an hour or so, I sometimes (if I remember) soak them overnight to help get the prep. out of the way.

NOTE II: The original recipe states to "lay a large piece of tin foil on your grill and spray it with cooking spray. Set the chicken kabobs on the foil to grill". I believe that the instructions to grill the chicken in this manner is to have it not lose the bacon coating from falling into the grates, but not exactly sure, so I'll leave it up to your discretion. However, I like a bit of char, so at some point, I'd want to place it directly on the grates.