Grilled Chicken Breast with Cilantro Butter

Now that I have more free time, it makes a great opportunity to eat better.
At the store this week, boneless skinless chicken breast was on sale for $1.99 per pound!  Too good to be true.

Of course, one of the best ways to enjoy chicken breast is grilled, but I always get so wary that I would overcook the breast and make it dry like cardboard  (since poultry always needs to be cooked completely).  Then I thought "I know how to avoid that! I will use a food thermometer so I know exactly when to take the meat off the heat".

When I got home, I sprinkled salt and pepper on the chicken breast, and grilled the chicken breast on the grill pan.  (I really did not want to drag the backyard gas grill out from the garage).

I grilled the chicken on each side for 5 minutes then stuck in the meat thermometer.
The outcome?
Nothing!!
The meat thermometer arrow did not move!

Apparently, the last time Jeff used the meat thermometer (which was actaully the 1st time we used it), Jeff dropped it, leaving a crack in the glass on the thermometer display.
I thought "a crack on the display. no biggie. it should still work"
But no, the entire thing was broken.

So I had to do it the old fashioned way -- make a cut into the chicken breast to see if the meat was still raw.  (I hate doing this method, because I feel like too the juices are lost when the meat is poked while it's still cooking).

Apparently, 5 minutes on each side was too little, as the meat was still raw, so I had to cook the meat for an additional 8-10 minutes.

The meat did not come out too bad; it was still moist with some juices (phew), but I made sure to get a meat thermometer next time I'm at the store.

Right before the meat comes off the grill, you need to make the Cilantro Butter!
For the cilantro butter, I combined 1/4 stick of butter (not margarine), 1 tsp of minced garlic, 1 tbp of freshly minced cilantro, and some salt and pepper.

As the grilled chicken comes off the grill, place a small pat of the cilantro butter on the chicken breast, and let the butter melt all over.  mmm.