Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Grilled Chicken a la Lang

Adam Perry Lang is a fiery genius. 

Every time I make something from BBQ 25, I have been stunningly impressed.  Granted, I still have to execute the dish perfectly with my mad grilling skills (ha ha) but BBQ 25 gives you an arsenal of culinary tips and techniques that work. 

This week I used his techniques for grilling boneless, skinless chicken breasts although I made my own brine and baste.  Chicken breasts can be boring and bland, but not his!  His techniques include a bold brine, using a griddle, and shuttling the chicken back and forth from the griddle/grill and baste.

Finally, I'm a confessed sauce-aholic.  I was only cooking two breasts but made the full amount of baste.  I saw all that leftover buttery baste and decided to toss some pasta in it for a "Ooooh that is so good, are you kidding me?" side dish.

Grilled Chicken ala Lang
inspired by BBQ 25, Adam Perry Lang

2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless

Brine
2 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1.5 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper
1 ea jalapeno, seeded and diced
2 cups water
t Tbsp rice wine vineagar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 ea green onion, diced
2 cups ice

Baste
3 Tbsp oil
3 Tbsp butter
1 shallot, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp agave
1/2 tsp valencia orange peel
1/2 tsp oregano, dried
1 ea green onion, diced
2 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 roasted red bell pepper, diced (jarred peppers, not full size)

Mix the first 6 ingredients of the brine and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes.  Take off heat and add remaining ingredients, bringing the temperature down to 40f.

Brine the chicken for 2-6 hours.

Rinse and dry chicken, rub with a little peanut or vegetable oil.

Preheat your grill and griddle to 350f.  I was using the griddle insert for my Craycort cast iron grate, one of my favorite features of this grate system.


One option is using a stove top style reversible griddle pan like this one I use.  You could always just use a cast iron skillet instead.

Hit the heated skillet with a Tablespoon of butter and the griddle the chicken for 6 minutes, flipping half way through.  I was interested that Adam used the griddle as opposed to straight grilling.  I would guess it is giving a more even color (more surface contact, maillard reaction).  Robyn, next time you hang with APL, ask him that for me, will ya?  


In the mean time, get your baste ingredients together in a small pan.  The Weber small drip pan is perfect for this.  Place on the grill.

Dip the chicken in the baste and put smooth side down on the grill grate.  Cook for one minute.


Dip the chicken in the baste again and put smooth side up.  Cook for one minute.

Dip the chicken in the baste again and flip, rotating 90 degrees from the first marks.  Cook for one minute.

Seeing a pattern here?  Alexis said this is another of our "dip and flip" chicken dishes.

Dip the chicken in the baste again and flip, rotating 90 degrees from the first marks.  Cook for one minute.


Check the internal temp now.  It should be in the neighborhood of 160f.  If not, move the breasts to the pan and let finish off cooking in there. 

When done, let the chicken rest for a few minutes.  I tossed some vermicelli in the sauce to go with the chicken.


It was so good we made it two nights in a row!