It is mostly true in that, 95% of the time, I am very blessed because this man will eat anything. He isn't picky. Any cuisine, any ingredient, any meat, soup, salad, stew, pasta, etc etc etc.
He eats it, smiles, gives an encouraging comment so I'm satisfied, and will even eat leftovers.
But then there are very rare days, I'd say once a month or so, that he wants something VERY specific - chocolate pie, for example.
Yesterday, he observed that we should grill out. It was a beautiful day and we had just gotten back from taking Mr. Darcy to Woofstock in downtown Roanoke where he got to meet LOTS of new friends!!
I responded that it'd be a great idea! He suggested bbq chicken. I got all excited and started looking up super fancy recipes on pinterest and various blogs --- he started getting quiet and making non committal sounds, like "eehhh" or "hmm....". Finally I rolled my eyes and said BBQ chicken it is. He grinned like a five year old boy and even went to the grocery store with me. That doesn't happen very often anymore, haha!
He also mumbled something about orzo... sigh. He's been on an orzo kick lately. I made that too.
But I still wanted to add my own twist, so hah! I did. Here is our version of BBQ grilled chicken. I kind of made up the sauce and the brine, but here it is to my best recollection.....
BBQ Grilled Chicken
Makes about 6 chicken legs and 4 chicken thighs.
The Brine:
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup of water
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbs kosher salt
1 tbs pepper
The Sauce:
1 tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup ketchup
1 tbs molasses
1/3 cup fish sauce
Dash of worcestershire sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sriracha sauce (or some kind of hot sauce)
1 tbs chili powder
1 tbs paprika
1 tbs cumin
1 tbs tumeric
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful of cilantro, chopped
Fresh chopped cilantro for garnish
We bought two packages of bone in skin on chicken - had about six chicken legs and 4 chicken thighs. You can use whatever you want of course. First, I marinated the chicken in a brine. Whisk the brine together. Put the chicken into a gallon zip loc bag and dump the brine over it, close the bag, shake gently, put in the fridge for at least half an hour. I left it in there for about two hours.
You can also prep your sides - we did the veggies with fire and ice sauce again. Yum!
When your grill master is starting to move towards prepping your grill, start making the sauce. Put a sauce pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the chopped onion, mix it around. Then add the garlic. Once it becomes fragrant and starts smelling yummy, add the rest of your ingredients. Make sure you keep tasting and adjusting, that is key! If you want more spice, add more sriracha or crushed red pepper flakes or hot sauce or something. Clyde and I like spice.
In order to cook these, you need to be able to control the heat on the grill a little bit. If it's gas, make sure it's medium low heat. If you have charcoal, put the coals on one side so one side is super hot and the other side is cooler --- you want a medium to medium low heat so they can cook longer without burning.
Sear the chicken (don't put the sauce on yet) on both sides for a few minutes and then move to the cool side of the grill. These need to cook about 25-30 minutes. Near the end of the cooking, start coating them with sauce using a grill brush thing. They should start to look extremely yummy. Keep lathering them with sauce so it starts to brown and caramelize and be amazing.
This is what ours looked like when they were done. If you are nervous about cooking the chicken all the way through, I'd suggest testing one and then popping them in the oven for five to ten minutes just to be safe. I topped with fresh cilantro! Ta da! The chicken was sweet, spicy, tangy, crispy, smoky, and yuuummmmyyyyyy.
We ate these with our grilled veggies, and I made an adult mac and cheese with orzo. We also enjoyed some gin and tonics too :)
Enjoy!
