Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Brick Grilled Chicken with Blackberry BBQ Sauce

Go ahead and sing it. You know you want to.

"She's a brrrrick.....house! Mighty mighty! Letting it all hang out."

I've been wanting to try a brick grilled chicken recipe ever since I first saw Alton Brown do one. You know, when you grill a chicken breast pressed between the grill grate and a pre-heated, foil wrapped brick.

Tonight I made John Besh's Brick Grilled Chicken with Blackberry Barbecue Tortilla Wraps (Click for the recipe), which is his contribution to the Everybody Has A Hand In Safe Grilling campaign.

I didn't have a brick handy but I needed something heavy and able to absorb heat. Hmmmmm....how about a cast iron corn bread mold? Poifect!

I wasn't crazy about the brick grilling technique. It was OK but it didn't really add anything to my grilled chicken. It also gave false high temp readings on my remote probe thermometer. No big deal, I just ignored it and went by look and feel.

The blackberry bbq sauce is a definite keeper for me. I usually don't like extra sweet sauces so I was wary of this one, but the ginger and red pepper balance it out. Alexis and I both loved it. It's a thinner sauce, even after I let it simmer for a while.

I also like how Besh recommends serving this family style. This is supposed to be an easy weeknight dinner and family style is fast and flexible. We subbed romaine for bib and added some tomato from our garden.

The wraps were an excellent summer meal. They'd probably even be good served cold, picnic style. They are sweet, tangy, and have that blend of texture and taste that you expect in a wrap.

We will definitely be making this one again. But next time, I'd forgo the "brick" part and just grill the chicken how I normally do (375f-400f, raised grid, x 20-25 minutes). I'd also baste some of the sauce onto the chicken in the last 10 minutes. I don't like just putting bbq sauce on meat after it has been grilled, I want it to cook onto the chicken.

Speaking of John Besh,
1) Don't forget to enter the giveaway for his book.
2) Have you seen his new show on TLC - Inedible to Incredible? Pretty funny stuff. I feel bad for the cooks but even worse for their families and the food that they have been eating for years! Ick.