Lesson no 16
I grill a lot of chicken at home, but I can’t remember the last time I threw a boneless, skinless chicken breast over the fire—it’s basically impossible to make this ubiquitous cut taste good on its own. That’s not to say I don’t love a good chicken breast: when properly cooked, it can be juicy, meaty, and delicious. But I always leave the breast on the bone, as I do with any piece of chicken. Cooking chicken on the bone both helps the meat hold its shape and prevents it from drying out, and removing the skin both exposes the chicken to more moisture loss and robs you of a delicacy: crispy skin is the best part about eating the bird, no?
Grilling chicken is a race against the clock: the challenge is always to get the meat cooked through before it begins to dry out. White meat (breasts) takes less time to cook than dark meat (legs and thighs). You can, of course, cook breasts and legs separately, but when you want to grill a whole chicken, butterfly it first—that is, remove the backbone with a pair of heavy kitchen shears. Opening the chicken out on the grill not only makes for a more uniform thickness, it also shortens the cooking time and exposes more skin to the hot surface, ensuring that the entire exterior will be crispy by the time the bird is cooked through.
Poussin is a term for a young chicken, about a month old and weighing in at around a pound. These birds are perfect for grilling: their small, single-serving size makes them cook rather quickly, which keeps the meat moist and tender. If you can’t find poussins (or spring chickens, as they’re sometimes called) at your market or butcher, grab a Cornish game hen (these are just slightly larger chickens that weigh about 2 pounds), or buy the smallest chicken you can find.
At St. Anselm, we serve locally raised chickens that come with their heads and feet intact. In addition to looking a little scary, it reminds us that what we’re eating came from a living, breathing animal and wasn’t born in a plastic-wrapped Styrofoam container. Many diners choose to gnaw on the neck and feet, which are quite delicious. You won’t often find truly whole birds at the market or butcher shop, but if you do, I highly recommend giving it a shot.
Butterflying the birds—by cutting out their backbones with a pair of kitchen shears—speeds up cooking time, but, more important, it exposes more of the chicken to the grill’s surface, which helps it reach a deep, even char all over.
Makes 2 servings
Brine
1 gallon water
1½ cups sugar
1 cup kosher salt
3 bay leaves
1 head garlic, halved horizontally
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
2 lemons, halved
2 tablespoons tarragon leaves
2 tablespoons parsley leaves
2 black tea bags
Chicken
2 whole poussins (about 1 pound each), preferably with heads and feet intact (see Resources), butterflied
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
Lemon wedges, for serving
1 In a stockpot, combine the water, sugar, salt, bay leaves, garlic, onion, and peppercorns. Squeeze the juice of the lemons into the pot and drop in the halves. Bring the mixture to a boil, stir to dissolve the sugar and salt, then turn off the heat. Add the tarragon, parsley, and tea bags and let steep for 20 minutes.
2 Remove the tea bags and let the brine cool to room temperature, then transfer to a nonreactive container and refrigerate until chilled.
3 Add the poussins to the brine and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours.
4 Set a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Remove the poussins from the brine and rinse well; discard the brine. Pat the poussins dry with paper towels and place on the wire rack. Refrigerate for 6 hours.
5 Prepare a two-stage fire with high and cool sides in a grill (see page 149).
6 Place the poussins skin side down, on the hot side of the grill. Grill until dark grill marks form, about 5 minutes. Move the poussins to the low-heat side of the grill, skin side up, cover the grill, and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into a leg registers 150°F, about 10 minutes.
7 Transfer the poussins to a platter, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with flaky salt, and serve with lemon wedges.
A Better Way to Cover Chicken
If you want to speed up the cooking process or use the rest of the grill as the chicken cooks, cover the chicken with a disposable aluminum pan rather than cover the grill entirely, which can sometimes impart a smoky, sooty flavor to the meal.
Grill-Smoked Chicken with Jamaican Gravy
This isn’t a recipe for authentic jerk chicken by a long shot: instead of rubbing or marinating the chicken in the traditional seasoning—a lip-numbing blend of allspice, Scotch bonnet peppers, and other ingredients—you smoke the chicken over a mix of wood chips and jerk spices, then serve it with a tangy soy-based sauce infused with Scotch bonnets and allspice berries. The sauce is quite harsh just after it’s made, but it will mellow as it ages; so make it at least a day ahead. I keep a bottle in my kitchen and use it for grilled fish as well. If you live near a Jamaican market, you might be able to find some pimento wood sticks or chips (or see Resources); use them in place of the fruit wood for an even more jerk flavor.
Makes 4 servings
Wood Chip Packet
¼ cup wood chips, preferably apple or cherry wood, soaked in water for at least 15 minutes and drained
3 tablespoons allspice berries
2 tablespoons dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried rosemary
Chicken
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Jamaican Gravy (recipe follows)
1 Prepare a two-stage fire with medium-high and low sides in a grill (see page 149). Oil the grate well.
2 Place the wood chips in the middle of a 1-foot square of aluminum foil. Sprinkle the allspice berries, thyme, and rosemary over the chips and cover with a second piece of foil. Fold the sides over to make a flat packet about 6 inches square. Using a paring knife, poke holes all over the top of the packet. Place the foil packet on top of the coals in the medium-high side of the grill (or, if using a gas grill, lift the grate and place the foil directly on top of the burner).
3 Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. When the wood chip packet begins to smoke, place the chicken thighs, skin side down, on the grate over the packet. Grill the thighs, turning them every few minutes, until charred all over and cooked through (an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat should register 165°F), about 15 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter and let rest for a few minutes.
4 Drizzle the gravy over the chicken and serve, passing extra sauce on the side.
Jamaican Gravy
Makes 4 cups
4 Scotch bonnet or habanero peppers
2 cups low-sodium soy sauce
2 cups distilled white vinegar
3 tablespoons allspice berries
1 Wearing a pair of latex gloves, cut the peppers into quarters, then remove the seeds and ribs.
2 In a jar or an empty wine bottle, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, allspice, and peppers. Seal and shake a few times. Let stand for at least 1 day at room temperature (waiting a week is even better). The sauce’s flavor will improve as it stands, and it can be stored at room temperature for several months.
Spiedies originated in Broome County, New York, an area near the Pennsylvania border that includes the towns of Binghamton and Endicott. It’s essentially an Italian-Americanized kebab (the name comes from spiedini, the Italian word for skewered meat), made with various types of meat that is marinated and then grilled. A soft roll—or, in some cases, white sandwich bread—is used to pull the grilled meat off the skewer, making for some of the best handheld food around.
This recipe calls for quotidian boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but you can make spiedies with any kind of tender skewer-friendly cut of pork, lamb, or beef. Marinades vary, but I like to use a homemade Italian dressing; if you have a favorite store-bought brand, feel free to use that instead.
Makes 6 servings
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 soft Italian rolls, split
¼ cup melted Garlic Butter or 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 Put the chicken in a large resealable plastic bag, add enough dressing to cover it, and seal the bag, pushing out any extra air. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or as long as overnight.
2 Soak 6 long wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes (or use metal skewers). Prepare a medium-hot single-level fire in a grill (see page 149).
3 Thread the chicken onto the skewers and season with salt and pepper. Discard the dressing. Grill the chicken, turning frequently (use tongs; you’ll burn your fingers if you try to grab the skewers), until charred all over and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.
4 Meanwhile, brush the cut side of the rolls with the melted butter and grill until toasted, 2 to 3 minutes.
5 Place a skewer inside each roll and use the bread to hold the meat in place as you pull out the skewer. Drizzle with extra Italian dressing, if desired, and serve at once.
Makes about 1 ½ cups
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup canola oil
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
3 Peppadew peppers, finely chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a jar with a lid, cover tightly, and shake well. The dressing can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Cornell Chicken
The story goes like this: In the late 1940s, a University of Pennsylvania graduate student named Robert C. Baker was asked to develop a chicken recipe to be served at a dinner attended by the state’s governor. He developed an egg-and-vinegar-based emulsion, which he used to marinate and baste halved chickens as they cooked over a charcoal grill. The tangy, juicy, and crispy-skinned chicken was a hit.
A decade later, Baker—then a professor at New York’s Cornell University and the school’s liaison to local farmers and food marketers—resurrected his recipe as a way to help poultry farmers turn a quicker profit by selling younger (and smaller) broiler chickens. During his tenure, Baker went on to pioneer dozens of ways to package processed poultry, including the chicken nugget and the turkey hot dog. But the barbecue chicken became Baker’s most famous contribution. He even published the recipe in an academic journal, declaring that “barbecued broilers without sauce are like bread without butter.” Decades later, Baker’s “Cornell Chicken” remains a fixture at barbecues, church suppers, and restaurants in the region that encompasses Ithaca and New York’s Southern Tier.
The legend of Cornell chicken is one of my favorite barbecue origin stories. I’ve always wondered why Baker’s undeniably delicious recipe hasn’t migrated outside of the region. No matter: It’s a pilgrimage worth making. My favorite restaurant stop for the bird is Brooks’ House of Bar-B-Q in Oneonta (see Resources), a sprawling complex that cooks its chicken halves on a massive, charcoal-fired indoor pit. The restaurant offers a greatest-hits menu of American ’cue, but the “BBQ chicken dinner” (few establishments actually call it Cornell chicken) is what you come here for.
Other local favorites include Phil’s Chicken House in Endicott and Jim’s B-B-Q Chicken, an open-air, seasonal restaurant in Candor (see Resources). But the best place to experience Cornell chicken is to queue up at the many picnics, church barbecues, and fire-department fund-raisers that dominate the weekend social calendar throughout the warm-weather months. Visit this part of New York and look for wisps of white smoke on the horizon; you’re sure to find the professor’s invention cooking at their source.
More than anything, Cornell chicken shows that new localized styles of barbecue are being invented all of the time—and outside of the South. This crisp-skinned chicken was developed by Dr. Robert Baker, a professor at Cornell University whose poultry innovations also include the chicken nugget and turkey burger (thanks, I guess). This barbecue chicken is marinated in and basted with an acidic mayonnaise-like sauce that helps the skin get extra-crispy on the grill. The recipe below is true to the late Dr. Baker’s original spec, though he favored charcoal briquettes over lump charcoal.
Makes 4 to 6 servings
marinade
1 large egg
1 cup oil
2 cups cider vinegar
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon Poultry Seasoning
Two 2½- to 3-pound chickens, quartered
1 In a blender, combine all of the marinade ingredients and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. (Alternatively, whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl.)
2 Put the chicken pieces in a large resealable plastic bag, add the marinade, and seal the bag, pushing out any extra air. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, and as long as overnight.
3 Prepare a two-stage fire with medium-hot and cool sides in a grill (see page 149), making sure to oil the grate well.
4 Remove the chicken from the marinade, letting any excess liquid drip off, and put on a platter or tray. Transfer a cup or so of the marinade to a measuring cup. Place the chicken, skin side down, over the medium-hot side of the fire and cook, turning once, until well charred, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to the cooler side of the grill and brush with the reserved marinade. Cover the grill and cook, turning and brushing the chicken with marinade every few minutes (stopping about 5 minutes before the chicken is finished), until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh registers 165°F, 30 to 35 minutes. If the skin isn’t crispy, move the chicken to the medium-hot side of the grill and cook it for another minute or so.
5 Transfer the chicken to a platter and let rest for 5 minutes before carving and serving.
Makes 4¾ teaspoons
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon dried savory
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon ground sage
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon dried tarragon
¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
¼ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
In a jar, combine all of the spices. Seal the jar and shake to combine. The poultry seasoning can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 month.