The Big Book of Backyard Cooking (11 page)

SERVES 6

MARINADE

3
tablespoons olive oil

3
tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3
medium cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

3
bay leaves, broken in half

¾
teaspoon kosher salt

½
teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

6
6-to 7-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, trimmed of excess fat
SEASONING RUB

2
teaspoons dried rosemary leaves, crushed
(see page 15)

2
teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
(see page 15)

1¼
teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

1
teaspoon kosher salt

Vegetable oil for oiling grill rack

6
fresh rosemary sprigs for garnish (optional)

6
thick lemon wedges for garnish (optional)

TO MAKE THE MARINADE:
Combine oil, lemon juice, garlic, bay leaves, salt, and pepper in a shallow nonreactive pan, and whisk well. Remove the small strip of meat called the fillet from the underside of each breast and save for another use. Add chicken to marinade and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight, turning several times.

TO MAKE THE RUB:
Mix together dried rosemary, fennel seeds, pepper, and salt in a small bowl.

Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Rub about ½ teaspoon seasoning on each side of each breast.

Oil a grill rack and arrange 4 to 5 inches from heat source. Prepare grill for a hot fire (high temperature). Grill until chicken springs back when touched with your fingers and juices run clear when pierced with a sharp knife, 4 to 5 minutes per side. (Internal temperature should be 170 degrees F.)

To serve, arrange chicken on a platter and garnish breasts with rosemary sprigs and lemon wedges, if desired. Squeeze a lemon wedge over each serving before eating.

HONEY CITRUS CHICKEN

Although the list of ingredients for this refreshing chicken entrée with peppery accents seems long,
the dish is not difficult to assemble, and the breasts can be marinated a day ahead. The pineapple,
orange, and lime-scented marinade, seasoned with both jalapeño and black pepper, does triple
duty in this recipe. First it is used to marinate the poultry, next some is combined with honey to be
slathered on the breasts as they grill, and the remainder is reduced to make a sauce. Try this with
Orzo Salad with Vegetables and Herbs
(page 206)
and with blanched tender green beans.

SERVES 8

3
large oranges

2
to
3
limes

2
cups diced pineapple (or 1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored, and diced)
1
3-inch jalapeño pepper, seeds and membranes removed, chopped
(see page 17)

1
teaspoon minced garlic

3
tablespoons soy sauce

2
tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra sprigs for garnish

2
tablespoons chopped fresh basil, plus extra sprigs for garnish

Freshly ground black pepper

2
tablespoons honey

8
6-to 7-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, trimmed of excess fat
3
tablespoons unsalted butter

Kosher salt (optional)

Vegetable oil for oiling grill rack and for brushing chicken

Grate enough orange peel from the oranges to yield 1 teaspoon and then juice them to yield 1

cup. Grate enough lime peel from the limes to yield 1 teaspoon and then juice them to yield ½ cup. Set aside both zests and juices.

Combine diced pineapple, jalapeño, and garlic in a food processor or blender and process until mixture is almost smooth. Pour marinade into a large, nonreactive shallow dish (a 9-x-13-inch Pyrex baking dish works well), and add orange and lime zests and juices, soy sauce, chopped cilantro, chopped basil, and 1 tablespoon black pepper. Stir to blend. Remove ⅓ cup of the marinade to a small nonreactive bowl and whisk in honey. (Cover and refrigerate the honey mixture until ready to grill chicken.) Add chicken to dish and turn to coat in marinade. Cover and refrigerate 4 to 5 hours, turning several times.

Remove chicken from marinade and using a rubber spatula, scrape excess marinade from breasts. Strain marinade into a heavy, medium saucepan. To make sauce, boil marinade in saucepan until reduced to 1½ cups, about 15 minutes. Whisk in butter and season with additional pepper and salt if desired.

Oil a grill rack and arrange 4 to 5 inches from heat source. Prepare grill for a hot fire (high temperature). Brush chicken with oil and grill, turning several times and basting with reserved honey mixture, until chicken springs back when touched with your fingers and juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a sharp knife, 4 to 5 minutes per side. (Internal temperature should be 170 degrees F.) Arrange breasts on a serving platter and garnish with cilantro and basil sprigs. Serve with sauce.

CHICKEN “SCALLOPS” TOPPED WITH

TOMATOES, BLACK OLIVES, AND FETA

Typically, when boneless chicken breasts are pounded into thin scallops, they are then sautéed. In
this recipe, they are grilled, then topped with a distinctive garnish of quartered grape tomatoes,
slivered kalamata olives, and crumbled feta. The tomatoes add a sweet note while the olives and
cheese provide salty undertones. Good accompaniments would be the Easy Saffron Rice (page 21

in Basics) and grilled zucchini halves.

8
6-to 7-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, trimmed of excess fat
⅓
cup olive oil, plus extra for oiling grill rack

¼
cup fresh lemon juice

2
tablespoons, plus 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano, divided (see notes), plus 8 sprigs of oregano for garnish (optional)

2
medium cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

20
pitted kalamata olives, cut lengthwise into slivers

10
sweet grape tomatoes, stemmed and quartered lengthwise (see notes)
3
to
4
ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Remove the small strip of meat called the fillet from the underside of each chicken breast and save for another use. Place a chicken breast between 2 sheets of waxed paper and using a meat pounder or rolling pin, pound until between ¼ and ½ inch thick. Continue, using more waxed paper as needed, until all chicken has been pounded. Place chicken in a large, shallow nonreactive dish. With a sharp knife, score the top of the chicken breasts.

Combine ½ cup oil, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons chopped oregano, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, and several grinds of black pepper in a small bowl and whisk well to blend. Pour over chicken. Cover chicken with plastic wrap and refrigerate, turning several times, for at least 2 hours or up to 6 hours.

Thirty minutes before you are ready to grill chicken, combine olives, tomatoes, cheese, and remaining 2 teaspoons chopped oregano in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.

When ready to grill chicken, oil a grill rack and arrange 4 to 5 inches from heat source. Prepare grill for a hot fire (high temperature). Pat chicken dry and grill until chicken springs back when touched with your fingers and juices run clear when flesh is pierced with a sharp knife, about 3

minutes per side. (Internal temperature should be 170 degrees F.) Do not overcook or chicken will be dry.

Remove to a platter and salt and pepper chicken lightly. Garnish each chicken breast with a generous topping of tomato garnish and then with a sprig of oregano, if desired.

NOTES:
This dish is best made with fresh oregano, but if it is unavailable substitute 2 teaspoons dried oregano for the fresh herb in the marinade and use a scant teaspoon dried oregano in the tomato/olive/feta garnish.

:
Grape tomatoes, a variety of tomatoes slightly smaller and sweeter than traditional cherry tomatoes, are available in most supermarkets. If you can’t find them, substitute 8 cherry tomatoes.

HICKORY-SMOKED TURKEY BREAST WITH

HERB STUFFING

This is a striking make-ahead dish worthy of a little extra effort. A boned butterflied turkey breast
is topped with thin slices of prosciutto and a fresh bread and herb stuffing scented with lemon. The
breast is rolled into a cylinder, tied, and smoked slowly over hickory chips. Then the breast is
chilled, and carved into slices that reveal a colorful mosaic. Grilled Asparagus Spears
(page 134)

and Orzo Salad with Vegetables and Herbs
(page 206)
would make attractive side dishes.

SERVES 4 TO 5

1
2-pound (with bone) turkey breast half, butterflied (see notes)

2
cups loosely packed fresh bread crumbs

2
cups loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley

4
medium cloves garlic, minced

2
green onions with 2 inches green tops included, chopped

½
tablespoon minced fresh chives

1
teaspoon grated lemon zest

1
egg

4
ounces prosciutto, sliced paper-thin

Cotton kitchen twine

Olive oil for brushing turkey and for oiling grill rack

10
to
12
large hickory chunks

Pound the butterflied turkey with a meat pounder to an even thickness of about ½ inch.

Combine bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, green onions, chives, lemon zest, and egg in a medium bowl, and toss to combine. Arrange prosciutto over entire surface of turkey breast. Spread the stuffing evenly over the prosciutto slices. Starting with the longest side, roll the meat into a cylinder. Tie at 1-inch intervals with twine and brush with olive oil. (Turkey can be prepared 3 hours ahead; cover and keep refrigerated until ready to smoke.)

Soak hickory chunks in water to cover while you prepare the grill.

For a charcoal grill, open all vents in bottom and top. Place a small fireproof pan filled with water in the center of the grill’s bottom grate. Surround the pan generously with charcoal. Ignite, and when the coals become gray and hot, scatter the hickory chunks over them. Oil the top grate and arrange 4 to 5 inches from coals. Place the turkey on the grill and cover with the lid with vents open.

Grill, brushing the turkey roll with olive oil about every 20 minutes and turning the meat. Cooking time should be 1½ to 2 hours. (You may need to start a charcoal fire a second time if it goes out before the turkey is done.) Roast is done when the skin becomes a rich mahogany brown and juices run clear when flesh is pierced with a sharp knife. (Internal temperature should be 170 degrees F for the turkey and 165 degrees F for the stuffing.)

Remove from grill and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate 1 hour or overnight to chill. Slice roast into ¼-inch-thick slices and arrange overlapping on a serving platter. Serve cold or at room temperature.

NOTES:
Ask the butcher to remove the bone but leave the skin intact, and then to butterfly the turkey breast to yield more surface for stuffing. Have the strip of meat called the fillet removed from the underside of the turkey breast and save for another use. A boneless breast will weigh about 1½ pounds.

:
You can smoke this turkey breast using a gas grill. If your gas grill has a smoker box and water chamber, place the soaked hickory chunks in the box and

fill the water chamber with water, then proceed with the manufacturer’s

directions. If your grill doesn’t have these features, barbecuing and smoking

expert Cheryl Alters Jamisan suggests that the wood chunk be soaked in water,

then wrapped in a foil packet. Holes should be poked in the packet and then it should be placed on the cooking grate opposite the meat being cooked. Some gas grills cook more quickly than charcoal ones, so check often for doneness. This breast could cook in an hour or less.

OLD-FASHIONED BARBECUED CHICKEN

The quintessentials—ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, and mustard—that characterize classic
American barbecue sauce can be found in this dish. Whole chickens are cut into serving pieces,
then marinated in the spicy sauce before being popped on the grill. When done, the lightly charred
chicken with its moist flesh is served on a bed of watercress. Roasted Potato Salad with Dill and
Mint Dressing
(page 174)
and grilled or boiled corn on the cob would make excellent sides.

SERVES 8

1½
cups ketchup

1
cup light brown sugar

½
cup red wine vinegar

¼
cup Worcestershire sauce

2½
tablespoons dry mustard, preferably English mustard sauce, such as Coleman’s, sifted to remove any lumps

2
teaspoons paprika, preferably Hungarian

2
teaspoons Tabasco sauce

2
teaspoons salt

1½
teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2
3½-pound broiler-fryer chickens, each cut into 2 wings, 2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 legs (save extra parts for another use)

Vegetable oil for oiling grill rack

1
bunch watercress for garnish (optional)

In a medium bowl, whisk together ketchup, sugar, vinegar, ½ cup water, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, paprika, Tabasco sauce, salt, and pepper until well blended. Remove 1½ cups of this mixture, and cover and refrigerate it. (This reserved marinade will be used later as a sauce for the grilled chicken.) Place the chicken pieces in a large, shallow nonreactive dish or in extra-large self-sealing plastic bags. Add the remaining marinade and mix well to coat each piece. Refrigerate 6

hours or overnight, turning several times.

When ready to grill chicken, oil a grill rack and arrange 4 to 5 inches from heat source. Prepare grill for a medium fire (medium temperature). Place thighs and legs on grill and cook 10 minutes, then add breasts and wings. Cover grill (leaving any vents open) and cook, turning chicken pieces often, until skin is charred lightly and flesh is cooked through, about 30 to 35 minutes more. Watch carefully, and if chicken pieces start to char and burn, move to a cooler part of the grill to finish cooking. When done, juices should run clear when chicken pieces are pierced with a sharp knife.