Brian @ Wongside

I decided two things today.  1) That I found the best grilled chicken recipe ever. And 2) That a picture is, indeed, worth a thousand words. This recipe results in tender, moist chicken–even the white meat.

1 chicken (4-6 lbs)
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

1. Create a hot charcoal fire in your grill. Once the coals are lit and ashy, separate them into a double banked fire, with half of the coals on each side of the grill. Thus creating two hot zones with cooler zone along the middle of the grill.
2. Prepare the chicken by opening it from it’s bag and pulling out the entrails, neck, etc.
3. Butterfly the chicken by placing it on a cutting board breast-side down.  Cut out the backbone with kitchen shears. They have to be sharp, or they won’t be able to cut through all the ribs. If you don’t have kitchen shears, put the chicken on it’s back, and use your sharpest chef’s knife to make cuts on either side of the backbone.
4. Pull the chicken open, and place the inside of the ribcage down towards the cutting board.
5. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap, and pound a few times with a meat tenderizer/hammer. If you don’t have one, a heavy pan such as a cast iron skillet works just as well. The idea isn’t to pound the chicken as you would a breast for chicken marsala, but to get the chicken to a more uniform thickness for more even cooking.
6. Season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides (what used to be the inside and outside of the chicken.)
7. Place on the grill skin side down, cover the grill and cook for 30-60 minutes, or until a meat thermometer registers 165 in the thigh.
8. Remove the chicken from the grill, let it rest for 10-15 minutes, carve and serve.

And now you know why a picture is worth a thousand words. If only I had taken pictures of my beloved chicken, you’d be able to see how tantalizingly good it looks.

Enjoy!