- Aug 27, 2008
- 5,170
- 409
Mmm, what a mouthful...say that one three times as fast as you can...LOL!!! I haven't posted much of anything new for awhile, 'cuz I've not been doing much cooking lately with my spare time, other than a lot of mesquite grilling, but I have a little recipe share for this one, which I think you'll find quite tasty and easy. I've mostly just been planning for bigger family gigs this summer (wedding and family reunion). This evening gave me a much needed break from that and get back to the basics of cooking outdoors.
I hadn't grilled any chicken over mesquite yet lump yet, or at least not that I could remember, so I wanted something to help keep the flavors in line with the mesquite.
I tossed in a few tips along the way for those needing a little help with grilling, or using mesquite lump in general.
MESQUITE GRILLED GARLIC BUTTER LEMON-PEPPER CHICKEN
***for 6-8lbs of chicken pieces. prep and cook time: approx 1 hour***
3/4 stick salted butter
1/4 cup lemon juice from concentrate
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp minced garlic, dried (sub with 1.25 - 1.5 Tbsp fresh minced)
1/2 tsp thyme, medium ground
1/2 tsp rosemary leaves medium-course ground
1/2 tsp fine ground black peppercorn
1/2 tsp red bell pepper, med-fine ground
Simmer the baste uncovered in a small saucepan (or in your basting pot, if you have one) until reduced by approx 1/3 for a more intense flavor from the lemon and Worcestershire in order to back up the stronger, heavier flavors from the mesquite grilling. This will also allow the herbs and spices to meld into the liquid.
Grill unseasoned chicken pieces over mesquite lump or mesquite charcoal briquette.
Sear as many sides of the chicken pieces as possible over hot fire on open grill, watching closely for flare-ups.
When pieces are slightly browned, begin basting (I recommend using a high-temp silicone brush to avoid scorching of natural bristled brush),
turning every 3-4 minutes. Repeat basting until baste is gone.
As the fire burns down, continue cooking, turning and basting over the lower heat to minimum internal temps of 165*. I prefer 170*+ for dark meat,
and a bit under 170* for breast meat. If you need to slow the cooking down after reaching your desired sear, place pieces on a warming rack with
indirect heat until finished.
Note: closed grill cooking with mesquite can give a very heavy and strong mesquite flavor, so until the fire is mostly burned down to small, hot coals, I don't close the lid. Mesquite is also far stronger than I prefer for firing a smoker, as it will give a continuous heavy smoke flavor throughout the cooking, hence my recommendation for open grilling until closer to the end.
Oh, and if you've read or heard mention of mesquite lump popping and snapping a lot when it's igniting, or as the lumps break down to smaller pieces while burning, yes, it does, so watch for those nasty hot cinders flying everywhere from your charcoal chimney, and even in the grill. I've found things smoldering from hot cinders up to 20 feet away from the fire at times, especially if it's windy conditions.
Just starting to baste some skin-on bone-in thighs:
I put the legs on over a smaller cooler fire after starting the thighs, as they don't take quite as long to cook...lagging behind for the moment, but they will catch-up soon enough:
More basting and flipping:
Legs coming along nicely now, too...looks good already, huh?:
Getting close to time for dropping 'em all on the warmer for the finish:
Mmm-mmm-mmm!!!:
I used Bradley food grates for my charcoal grates for two years now in my modded SnP 40"...here's the remains of the fire all in one grate for an offset internal fire...just enough left to hold the warmer grate at around 230-240*:
Time to finish gettin' happy...I placed the least done pieces closest to the fire, but not directly over it...fire on left with left-end intake draft, vent on upper right:
And there you have it...these are delicious:
This is pretty simple and relatively basic (just the way I wanted it), but oh, so good. Not a lot of pepper and herbs, just enough to know it's there, with the garlic, butter and lemon taking on most of the role of the flavor profile, and the worsty sauce filling in the gaps with a slightly neutral flavor which seems to smooth the mesquite out quite nicely for the milder flavored chicken. The butter isn't a major factor, but it adds that slight richness to the crispy skin, soaking into any charred parts and holding on for dear life over the hot fire...works great though. I had fun tossing this recipe together, just following my gut instincts on what I wanted it to do for the chicken with the mesquite fired grill. I will say, it may not taste quite the same over regular charcoal briquettes, and definitely not the same over a gas grill, but it's a nice twist for the mesquite, which worked out surprisingly well, and I don't like strong flavors on chicken, especially when it comes to smoke.
It's easy to get wrapped up in smoking everything, but don't forget to keep your grills happy, too! LOL!!! This was a great way to use up some mesquite lump (which I've been playing with a lot lately), and with chicken, of all things...hmm...I didn't think it would be that good, but I'm considering adding this to my wedding and/or family reunion menu...so now, I have another option with high potential just for this purpose...never know what you like until you try it, right???...
Eric
I hadn't grilled any chicken over mesquite yet lump yet, or at least not that I could remember, so I wanted something to help keep the flavors in line with the mesquite.
I tossed in a few tips along the way for those needing a little help with grilling, or using mesquite lump in general.
MESQUITE GRILLED GARLIC BUTTER LEMON-PEPPER CHICKEN
***for 6-8lbs of chicken pieces. prep and cook time: approx 1 hour***
3/4 stick salted butter
1/4 cup lemon juice from concentrate
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp minced garlic, dried (sub with 1.25 - 1.5 Tbsp fresh minced)
1/2 tsp thyme, medium ground
1/2 tsp rosemary leaves medium-course ground
1/2 tsp fine ground black peppercorn
1/2 tsp red bell pepper, med-fine ground
Simmer the baste uncovered in a small saucepan (or in your basting pot, if you have one) until reduced by approx 1/3 for a more intense flavor from the lemon and Worcestershire in order to back up the stronger, heavier flavors from the mesquite grilling. This will also allow the herbs and spices to meld into the liquid.
Grill unseasoned chicken pieces over mesquite lump or mesquite charcoal briquette.
Sear as many sides of the chicken pieces as possible over hot fire on open grill, watching closely for flare-ups.
When pieces are slightly browned, begin basting (I recommend using a high-temp silicone brush to avoid scorching of natural bristled brush),
turning every 3-4 minutes. Repeat basting until baste is gone.
As the fire burns down, continue cooking, turning and basting over the lower heat to minimum internal temps of 165*. I prefer 170*+ for dark meat,
and a bit under 170* for breast meat. If you need to slow the cooking down after reaching your desired sear, place pieces on a warming rack with
indirect heat until finished.
Note: closed grill cooking with mesquite can give a very heavy and strong mesquite flavor, so until the fire is mostly burned down to small, hot coals, I don't close the lid. Mesquite is also far stronger than I prefer for firing a smoker, as it will give a continuous heavy smoke flavor throughout the cooking, hence my recommendation for open grilling until closer to the end.
Oh, and if you've read or heard mention of mesquite lump popping and snapping a lot when it's igniting, or as the lumps break down to smaller pieces while burning, yes, it does, so watch for those nasty hot cinders flying everywhere from your charcoal chimney, and even in the grill. I've found things smoldering from hot cinders up to 20 feet away from the fire at times, especially if it's windy conditions.
Just starting to baste some skin-on bone-in thighs:
I put the legs on over a smaller cooler fire after starting the thighs, as they don't take quite as long to cook...lagging behind for the moment, but they will catch-up soon enough:
More basting and flipping:
Legs coming along nicely now, too...looks good already, huh?:
Getting close to time for dropping 'em all on the warmer for the finish:
Mmm-mmm-mmm!!!:
I used Bradley food grates for my charcoal grates for two years now in my modded SnP 40"...here's the remains of the fire all in one grate for an offset internal fire...just enough left to hold the warmer grate at around 230-240*:
Time to finish gettin' happy...I placed the least done pieces closest to the fire, but not directly over it...fire on left with left-end intake draft, vent on upper right:
And there you have it...these are delicious:
This is pretty simple and relatively basic (just the way I wanted it), but oh, so good. Not a lot of pepper and herbs, just enough to know it's there, with the garlic, butter and lemon taking on most of the role of the flavor profile, and the worsty sauce filling in the gaps with a slightly neutral flavor which seems to smooth the mesquite out quite nicely for the milder flavored chicken. The butter isn't a major factor, but it adds that slight richness to the crispy skin, soaking into any charred parts and holding on for dear life over the hot fire...works great though. I had fun tossing this recipe together, just following my gut instincts on what I wanted it to do for the chicken with the mesquite fired grill. I will say, it may not taste quite the same over regular charcoal briquettes, and definitely not the same over a gas grill, but it's a nice twist for the mesquite, which worked out surprisingly well, and I don't like strong flavors on chicken, especially when it comes to smoke.
It's easy to get wrapped up in smoking everything, but don't forget to keep your grills happy, too! LOL!!! This was a great way to use up some mesquite lump (which I've been playing with a lot lately), and with chicken, of all things...hmm...I didn't think it would be that good, but I'm considering adding this to my wedding and/or family reunion menu...so now, I have another option with high potential just for this purpose...never know what you like until you try it, right???...
Eric
