One of a Million Tasty Ways to Marinate and Grill Chicken

So, it’s grilling season (finally), and what is about the easiest thing to do on the grill? Aside from slapping some hotdogs on it?  Grilled chicken!  However, if you are not careful, grilled chicken can be one of the easiest things to really mess up, especially white meat.  I suppose I should mention that I very much prefer dark meat over white meat.  So much juicier, tender, and flavorful.  But, once in a while we will do a whole chicken on the grill (back bone cut out and butterflied open into two halves) and if you master the grill right, even the white meat turns out well.

And what is the key to doing this? Indirect heat!  Yes, say it with me now, “Indirect heat!”  Meaning, once your coals are hot either shove them all to one side and then cook on the other side of the grill;  or, shove half the coals to the far left side and the other half of the coals to the far right and grill your food right in the center.  I think the choice comes down to how much food you have or how big your cuts of meat are.  Cooking with indirect heat will stop the problem of the outer part of your meat being dry and charred, while the inside is not cooked through yet.  In addition, it is important to keep your lid down most of the time because this helps to keep the inside temp of your grill nice and roasty and this helps to more evenly cook your meat.

Asian BBQ Chicken with Peanut Sauce Pasta Salad

Asian BBQ Chicken with Peanut Sauce Pasta Salad

• 4 chicken quarters (we used thigh and leg quarters)
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1/4 cup sweet mirin
• 1 tablespoon sriracha
• 1 tablespoon coriander seed
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
• Peanut Sauce Pasta Salad (recipe below)

Whisk all ingredients except chicken in bowl.  Pour marinade over chicken, either in a freezer bag on in a large, shallow baking dish.  Let marinate about 3-6 hours, but up to 12 if preferred.  Remove from marinade and scrape off excess liquid.  Season with salt and pepper.

Grill over indirect heat.  Place skin side down and let grill about 20 minutes.  Flip and let grill another 15 – 20 minutes depending on the size of your chicken.  Remove from gill and let rest at least 5 minutes.

Peanut Sauce Pasta Salad

• Handful of spaghetti (just eye it) – feel free to use Soba noodles if you have some on hand!
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
• 1/3 red onion, sliced thin
• 1/2 bunch green onions, sliced thin
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
• 1 cup peanut sauce (my recipe from previous post)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon  plus 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil, divided

Cook pasta accordingly and drain thoroughly.  Toss with 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil.  When pasta has cooled slightly (still about room temp), toss with both bell peppers, red and green onion.

Chicken with a glass of the Hubs home-brewed IPA

To make sauce, mix peanut sauce, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil.  Toss into pasta salad until nicely coated.  Don’t use all of sauce if not necessary.  Toss salad with peanuts and cilantro.  Serve around room temperature.

Shrimp Satay with Peanut Sauce

Samina (of Samina Cooks!) recent post on Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce inspired me to do some of my own.  However, I was having my Dad over for dinner, and I know he loves shrimp, so I decided to swap out chicken thighs for some grilled shrimps.  I marinated the shrimp for about 30 minutes (not too long or your shrimp can get “over-marinated” and turn mushy and not good), grilled them, served them with a peanut sauce, and with some quick pickled cucumbers, radishes, and red onions.  Alas, I’m not sure where my head has been lately, and so this blog will also be missing the (almost) obligatory picture of food.  Sigh.

Serves 4 appetizer portions

• 1 pound fairly large shrimp (U16-20, which means there is about 16-20 shrimp per pound, see this chart for more info), peeled and de-veined
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• Peanut Sauce (recipe below)
• Quick Pickled Cucumber and Radish Salad (recipe below)

Combine all ingredients except shrimp and stir up well.  Add shrimp and let marinate for about 20-30 minutes.  Remove shrimp from marinade and thread onto skewers (about 4 skewers, which have been soaked in water about 15 minutes to prevent them from burning, 4-5 shrimp per skewer.)  Discard remaining marinade.

Grill shrimps on grill about 2 minutes per side.

Serve with Peanut Sauce and Cucumber and Radish Salad.

Peanut Sauce

• 2 garlic cloves, smashed up
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons sriracha
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon lime juice (approximately juice of one lime)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chicken or veggie stock

Puree all ingredients in blender.  Taste to make sure it is to your liking.

Feel free to garnish with a few chopped up peanuts.

Quick Pickled Cucumber and Radish Salad

• 1/2 medium sized cucumber, peeled, and sliced very thin (I sliced mine on a mandolin.)
• 5 medium sized radishes, sliced thin (again, did mine on a mandolin)
• 1/2 red onion, sliced thin, mandolin
• 1/3 cup white wine or rice wine (unseasoned) vinegar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• big pinch of salt
• 2 cups water

Combine vinegar, sugar, salt, and water, and stir up until salt and sugar is completely dissolved.

Add cucumber, radishes, and onions.  Stir up, and let sit out on counter to pickled at least 30 minutes, ideally closer to an hour.