![[Image]](images/BornToGrill-457.jpg)
Sunday used to be synonymous with chicken in many American homes, the course of choice for the special family meal of the week. When we yearn for a return to that tradition, or have another occasion to celebrate, we like to grill bone-in, skin-on breasts. They take longer to cook than the convenient boneless variety, and can be trickier, but they boast more true poultry flavor. We also try to find premium chicken, tastier than the common commercial product, and then season it lightly but spryly, as we do here with a golden sunshine sauce.
SERVES 6
| 2 | 6½-ounce jars marinated artichoke hearts, undrained |
| Juice of 1½ lemons | |
| 4 | garlic cloves, minced |
| 6 | bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, preferably from premium chicken (see "Flying the Coop") |
| 2 | tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil |
| 2 | tablespoons butter |
| 2 | tablespoons white wine |
| ½ | teaspoon dried oregano |
| Salt | |
| Chopped fresh basil or parsley and lemon zest, for garnish |
At least 3 hours and up to the night before you plan to grill, drain the oil from the artichokes into a small bowl. To prepare the marinade, stir the juice of 1 lemon and 3 of the garlic cloves into the oil. Place the chicken breasts in a plastic bag and pour the marinade over them, rubbing some of the liquid under the skin without tearing the skin. Refrigerate the chicken.
Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and drain it, discarding the marinade. Let the chicken sit uncovered at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes. Blot any excess liquid from the surface.
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
While the grill preheats, purée the artichoke hearts in a blender with the olive oil. Warm the butter in a small, nonreactive saucepan over medium heat and add the remaining garlic. Sauté the garlic briefly until just soft and then stir in the wine, oregano, and puréed artichoke-and-oil mixture. Cook the sauce for several minutes, bringing it to a good simmer. Stir in the remaining lemon juice, taste, and add salt to taste. Remove the sauce from the heat, but keep it warm. (The sauce can be made a day ahead, kept refrigerated, and then reheated.)
Transfer the chicken to the grill skin-side down. Grill the chicken uncovered over medium heat for 30 to 35 minutes, turning four times. Watch for flare-ups, shifting the breasts away from the flame if necessary. If grilling covered, cook for 24 to 28 minutes, turning twice. End the grilling in either case with the chicken skin-side down to give it a final crisping. The chicken breasts are done when opaque down to the bone but still juicy.
Stir the sauce to reblend and spoon it onto a platter. Top the sauce with the chicken breasts, and scatter the basil or parsley and the lemon zest over the chicken. Given the voluptuousness of the sauce, we pair the chicken with a simple spinach and mushroom salad along with roast potatoes or rice. We particularly like California-grown wehani rice as a side because of its burnished color and chewy texture.
TECHNIQUE TIP: The dietitians tell us not to eat chicken skin because of its fat, but that doesn't mean you can't cook it. The skin helps keep chicken juicy when you're grilling and can be removed easily at the table. Flare-ups are more likely, but they can be managed most of the time in the ways we describe on [>]. When we're grilling skin-on breasts, we start and finish them skin-down, rendering much of the fat and crisping the skin at the end just in case we want a nibble of the forbidden fruit.
When you find chicken on the menu at an up-to-date upscale restaurant, it's likely to be labeled "free-range" this or that. New York chef Larry Forgione is usually credited with coining the term, which to him meant the kind of flavorful bird that used to forage freely in American barnyards. Government inspectors don't expect as much, requiring merely that such chickens get slightly more range than their factory-cooped cousins.
Most mass-produced chickens see little or no sunlight in their short two-month life and never claw any real earth. Computers feed them a scientifically designed diet that plumps the flesh efficiently and brings them to the market quickly at a uniform size, color, and blandness.
Some free-range chickens are fully emancipated from this system, and allowed to develop a richer, natural quality, but to merit the official label breeders only have to crack the dungeon doors enough to allow a little movement.
Ask questions when you're shopping for premium chicken. Any good meat market knows how its birds were raised. The term "field-grazed" is gaining currency to represent what Forgione originally intended, but it's as subject to interpretation as "free-range." You pay more, of course, for chickens that have roamed the great outdoors, but you don't need to dump the entire spice rack into a dish just to get some flavor.