Savory Grilled Chicken |

I wasn’t there to witness the inception of this chicken, but from what I understand, it probably took place after several beers, and was basically the result of, well, whatever was in our friend’s cupboards at the time. But as it turned out, Brett and his friend Paul (is it cool if I mention you by name, Paul? I’ve done it twice now so I hope it’s okay.) made quite a tasty little marinade in their state of questionable inebriation. Good on you, boys.

What’s in it? Well, basically everything you have sitting in your cupboards right now. Yep. Somehow when you take all that down and throw it on top of some chicken thighs and then let those thighs take a nice long bath, and then slam those down on a nice and hot grill you end up with crispy, crunchy, juicy, altogether yummy piece of chicken you’ll be glad to have at your next bbq.

By the way, while we’re talking about thighs, this has converted me. I’m now a thigh kinda-girl. I was always a breast person (um. people. we’re talking about chicken here. chicken. breasts.) but I’m thinking thighs are my new thing. For one thing, they’re super easy to get off the bone, which is something I’ve never been able to do with chicken breasts on the bone, which means I end up buying the boneless, skinless types, which really have no flavor to speak of and plus they’re always shrink wrapped and creepy looking. (phew! that turned into a long sentence!) We bought nice looking, skin on, bone in thighs and not only are they a heckufalot cheaper than their naked, plastic wrapped cousins, but they’re tastier too. Jucier and just plain yummier. So even if you think you’re not a thigh person, do me a favor. Try them here, just this once. You might be surprised.

Grilled Chicken Thighs (recipe courtesy of my boyfriend Brett and his friend Paul, and their escapades into BBQ)

um, guys. There are no measurements for this one. like I said, it was kind of created on a whim and those kinds of things don’t come with measurements. that said, we’ve made it twice since and not measured there either and it’s all turned out good.

Ingredients

bone-in-skin-on chicken thighs; as many as you feel like cooking
A hefty knob of fresh ginger (we used about 1 inch for 4 chicken thighs; you can use more accordingly)
Soy Sauce (enough to coat all your chicken but not having it be completely swimming in liquid. if I had to guess I’d say we used 1/2 cup or so for four)
Sesame oil (just a scant amount will do you; it’s a powerful flavor so you don’t want to go nuts here, we probably used eh.. a teaspoon or two for four thighs?)
Chili Powder
Italian seasoning
salt and pepper

Procedure

Season your chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Pat it in there nice and good. Place it into a baking dish or large bowl. throw on the minced ginger, chili powder and italian seasoning, trying to get some on each thigh on both sides. Sprinkle each thigh with a bit of seasame oil and then top the whole thing with some soy sauce. (You want most of the spices you put on the chicken to sort of stay on there, so don’t get too crazy with the soy sauce. Ps you could totally do this in a plastic bag, especially if you are taking it to a BBQ or something). Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
When ready to cook, get a grill going with a medium-hot fire in it, or a grill pan heating over medium high heat. When nice and hot, Put your chicken thighs on, skin side down to start. Cook until skin begins to get crisp-ish. Turn over and continue cooking. You may end up turning your chicken over a few times before it gets crispy enough. Just cook it until juices run clear when meat is pricked, and the meat doesn’t feel smooshy. (real scientific, right? clearly I don’t cook meat often.) The soy sauce has a tendancy to turn the outer meat a bit pinkish, and thigh meat is darker than breast meat, so don’t freak out if you bite in and your meat isn’t white. That’s normal. (ps. you could totally brown the chicken in a hot skillet on both sides and then transfer to the oven to finish off, but let’s be honest. It tastes better on the grill.)
When finished cooking, remove from grill and let cool a bit before digging in. This tastes awesome just as is, and also makes a really nice sandwich on toasted bread. Yum!