Let’s explore the world of cooking chicken on the barbecue this week. I am almost certain that everyone reading this has had to sit through a meal, choking down horrifically charred chicken that was left unattended on the grill, only to be engulfed in flames and smell like kerosene. Unless you’re talking about cooking a boneless skinless chicken breast void of marinades or flavoring, cooking chicken on the barbecue can be a challenge. Let’s start with a few tips to avoid any further grilling nightmares.

•Whenever possible, keep the meat on the bones, it adds a ton of flavour, helps to keep the chicken moist and can also help to minimize charring by cooking bone side down more often then not

•Treat the chicken skin with respect, you don’t have to remove it, but you must understand that the skin contains a great deal of fat, and where there is fat, there is fire!

•Consider carefully how much fat and/or sugar the products you are using to marinade or flavour your chicken, because sugar and fat can both lead to fires

•Remember that your grill doesn’t necessarily need to be at full heat, in fact cooking chicken at a lower temperature and even using indirect heat can help ease flare ups and allow the larger pieces of chicken to cook through without too much charring

•When cooking large pieces of chicken I actually like to begin the cooking process by roasting the chicken in the oven until the meat is about 70% cooked, this will minimize the charred outside, while ensuring it is cooked through

•Now that we have a few tips to help us avoid disaster, let’s put them to use with a delicious chicken dish.

Chipotle-Lime Barbecue Serben Free Range Chicken w/ Sylvan Star Grilled Polenta

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Marinating Time: 2-4 hours

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Special Tools: probe or instant read thermometer for the chicken (optional)

Feeds 3-4 people

1 Serben Free Range chicken, whole, or broken down, but bone-on

1 can chipotles in adobo sauce

1 lime, zest and juice

3 cloves garlic, smashed

2 Tbsp. honey

3 Tbsp. cilantro, fresh chopped

½ cup ketchup

1 tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. paprika

1 Tbsp. Lea & Perrins

Salt and pepper to taste

•If buying the chicken whole, which is my preference because it is cheaper and you can use the carcass to prepare a stock, break the chicken down into two drumsticks, two thighs, and four breast pieces, keeping the bones on. If you are unfamiliar with this, simply purchase the chicken butchered, or refer to the internet for a video of how to do this, it’s really not that tough if you are comfortable with a knife

•In a bowl, combine smashed garlic, honey, chopped cilantro, ketchup, onion powder, paprika, Lea & Perrins, and the juice and zest of the lime

•Now, based on your tolerance of spice, remove the chipotle peppers from the can, preserving the adobo sauce, and coarsely chop the peppers, I find 3 peppers gives it a nice medium heat

•Add the peppers and 3 Tbsp. of the adobo sauce to the bowl, stir to combine

•Add the chicken to the bowl and mix to coat the chicken evenly, season generously with salt and pepper

•Place the chicken in a ziplock bag and work to remove most of the air and seal

•Refrigerate to marinate

Meanwhile, begin to prepare the polenta

2 cups cornmeal

3 cups homogenized milk

100 g Sylvan Star gouda

50 g parmesan

1 shallots, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped

1 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped

2 Tbsp. raw butter

Salt and pepper

Line a 6X8 inch baking pan with parchment paper, using a little oil or vegetable spray to help it adhere to the pan

Place the milk in a medium, thick bottomed sauce pot and bring to a simmer

Add the garlic, shallots, thyme, rosemary, and then the cornmeal

Turn the heat down to low and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to cook the cornmeal, this will take at least 5-6 minutes of cooking on low, do not be fooled into thinking it is completely cooked, even if it thickens quickly

At that point add the cheese, raw butter and seasoning, stir to completely combine

Quickly pour the polenta into the baking pan and push out flat and even, this will form the mold for your polenta

Line the top with parchment and refrigerate until cooled and set

When it’s time for dinner….

Turn the oven to 375F

Fire up the barbecue to medium heat

Place the marinated chicken, skin side up on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until the chicken is 70% cooked, alternatively you can cook it on the grill, but you must be very mindful of moving it around and even using the top rack to cook it through without charring it

Meanwhile, flip the polenta out onto a cutting board and cut into portion sized, manageable shapes

Place the par cooked chicken on the grill, skin side up to finish the cooking

Meanwhile, place the polenta on the grill, allowing it to grill nicely, 3-4 minutes per side, patience is a virtue, too early and it will stick, too long and it will burn

Continue to cook the chicken, flipping frequently, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 170F

Serve with some pico de gallo and enjoy!

Alternatively, if you would rather, you could prepare this with my Bacon-Jalapeno-Cheddar corn bread, and you could even turn your BBQ to low and bake it right on the top rack in a throw away baking pan. Find that recipe on my website at www.chefpaulshufelt.com. You could even serve it up with some BBQ roasted corn on the cob as the season arrives!

Who’s hungry?