Chicken

If there is one fruit whose flavor melds perfectly with chicken, it is the apricot, but incorporating juice or fruit chunks into barbecue sauce can give grilled foods a charred fruit flavor. The alternative is a fruity marinade that can be tasted throughout the meat, not just on the skin. The recipe gives fruit lovers (and wing lovers) the best of both worlds in one simple step, as the marinade forms a sweet glaze while the chicken cooks.

A brine is a great way to ensure a moist and juicy chicken—or any other type of meat. Brines are simply liquid marinades with a high salt content. All meat contains salt, and when it is submerged in a liquid with a higher salt content, the liquid is absorbed into the meat through a process called osmosis. The meat retains the moisture, helping to yield juicy results on the grill. The following sweet brine recipe works well on skinless chicken breasts. The liquid brine not only prevents the chicken from drying out but provides extra flavor. When the meat is combined with the tangy white sauce, it makes a fantastic addition to salads and quesadillas, and it tastes great on its own as an entrée.

Lemons have a broad appeal for those who barbecue because of the variety of ways in which they can be used. Lemon slices heighten both the color and flavor of sop mops or bastes and sauces, and a sprinkling of lemon on fresh-cut fruits will prevent oxidation, which causes fruits to turn brown before they can hit the grill. A twist of lemon will neutralize the odor of fish, a must for cedar plank–smoked salmon. Perhaps most important, in a marinade the acid in lemon juice will help break down the meat’s collagen fibers, thus helping to tenderize tougher cuts. This recipe, cooked using the indirect heat method at high temperature, is easily one of the quickest and most flavorful recipes I know. Cooking with indirect heat at a high temperature on a closed grill will simulate an indoor oven without sacrificing smoke flavor and will prevent premature caramelization of the soy sauce.

Nine times out of ten when chicken is ordered in a restaurant, a breast will arrive at the table. Where is the love for dark meat? To my mind there is no comparison between the depth of flavors of dark meat versus white meat. On top of that, chicken legs and thighs stay moister and more tender and have a greater margin of error when cooking. For those reasons most competitive barbecuers prefer to submit dark meat rather than chicken breast to trained judges. For marinating chicken it is hard to beat a traditional Italian dressing. The marinade in this recipe stays close to this philosophy while adding a fresh punch with mixed herbs. Its earthy acidic profile complements the subtle smoke flavor of the chicken; there is nothing out-of-the-bottle about it.

A flourishing garden filled with home-grown vegetables was a source of pride to Big Bob, and his favorite area of the garden was the tomato patch, where he tended a variety of cultivars. By planting different kinds of tomato plants, he was ensured fresh ripe tomatoes all summer long. His favorite summer dish was a tomato salad made with whatever types of tomatoes were in season. This recipe combines two of Big Bob’s Southern favorites: grilled chicken and tomato salad. It is hard to beat the sweet taste of tomatoes in season combined with the charred flavors of chicken cooked outdoors. Each element of this dish can be served on its own, but together they form a signature dish that you’ll return to again and again all summer long.

For years Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q customers have wondered why their chicken breasts were sometimes served without a portion of the wing. Usually it’s because at some point during the process of flipping, basting, and moving the whole chickens around, the wing tips get caught in the cooking grate and break off. That being said, Big Bob loved chicken wings. While a skin-on chicken breast with only the drumette of the wing attached was called a “taster” in the early days of the restaurant, in the 1960s, back when commercial airlines still served real meals, they became known as “airline chicken.” Leaving a portion of the wing attached to a small chicken breast made the serving look larger while still allowing it to fit nicely into an airline food tray. The airline chicken breast is a perfect cut for the outdoor grill if cooked correctly. The best method is a combination of both direct and indirect cooking. With a portion of the wing removed, the skin covering the breast is exposed so it can become thin and crispy while acting as a protective barrier to the lean meat. Finishing the chicken in a pan over indirect heat protects the exposed breast meat.

Have you ever tried a beer-can chicken recipe? That’s when a whole chicken is perched atop a beer can and set on the grill, so the beer steams from the can and keeps the sitting bird from drying out. The results are tender and moist, but sometimes the flavor is washed out; and if the chicken falls over it can be a mess. Loaf-Pan Chicken is a dummy-proof alternative to beer-can chicken, although the technique is not as gimmicky. You simply set the bird in a loaf pan and place it, pan and all, on the grill. The loaf pan captures all the juices and increases the humidity surrounding the chicken. The result is tender and moist meat every time, and best of all, the flavor is full and undiluted.

This is one of the most popular menu items at Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q and has been a staple in Decatur, Alabama, since Big Bob first started selling his ’Q in 1925. Most folks raised in North Alabama have firmly believed since childhood that barbecue sauce is white. Where did the rest of the country go wrong? The simple technique for cooking the chickens has not changed for more than eighty years, and the ingredients can be listed on one hand: salt, pepper, basting oil, and, of course, that creamy, tangy, peppery white sauce. An all-hickory fire on a closed brick pit is the only other necessity for duplicating the authentic Big Bob flavors. The type of oil used for basting has changed through the years. Big Bob used whatever oil was most easily available to baste the chickens as they cooked, including rendered lard. Excess fat was cut off the pork shoulders and heated in a pot until the lard liquefied. The rendered lard was stored in metal “lard buckets” until needed. No matter what type of oil is used, the chickens still taste fantastic.

We devised this sandwich partly to challenge ourselves. Usually prepared in advance of its use in a sandwich, chicken loses moisture by the time it arrives there. So we looked for a way to keep the chicken moist . . . and we found it. By slowly and gently poaching the chicken, and then storing it in the poaching liquid until it’s used, we lock in the moisture. (Use this trick whenever you’re preparing chicken for a picnic or for use in a salad—the chicken will be moist and delicious, and without oil, to boot. Further, you can use the poaching broth for soup simply by adding more water, some vegetables, and some of the chicken.) We serve this as a pressed sandwich, but it also works well served cold.

Do you know anyone who does not make chicken salad with leftover chicken? We don’t. And folks tend to want mayonnaise, some fruity sweetness and/or nuts, crunch, and texture. We’re happy to oblige. We start with our homemade Mayonnaise (page 176). And if you have not yet tried the Pickled Mustard Seeds (page 187), this chicken salad gives you the perfect excuse. We’re not sure “pickled” is the perfect term for them—they’re flavored with sugar, vinegar, and water and puff up, caviar-like. This gives the chicken salad little bubbles that pop as you eat it, as caviar does, releasing a lightly mustardy flavor. The Pickled Red Onions (page 190) lend sweet, sour, and oniony flavors, as well as texture and crunch. Frisée adds texture as well. And using Roasted Tomatoes (page 195)—a staple in our own home kitchens—makes this sandwich a year-round choice.

Cacciatore means cooked in the “hunter’s style” (which, translated into French, is chasseur and in fact refers to a very similar dish). In many Italian-American restaurants this can be a greasy, overly sweet sauce with dry, overcooked chicken. But this recipe will make you fall in love with Chicken Cacciatore again; it’s really the ultimate in hearty, rustic Italian home cooking.

Italian stews are called spezzatini because the meat is cut into pieces; spezzare means “to cut up” or “break up.” This is the prototypical one-pot meal: Throw all the ingredients into a pot, and you have a great dinner.

If you’re bored with the same old roast chicken, try this one. The bird absorbs all the sweet and savory flavors of the marinade, and that’s what keeps the meat incredibly moist. And it’s still moist the next day—perfect for sandwiches and salads. This is a really easy recipe to double (as long as you have a big enough roasting pan). So I usually do, and enjoy my leftovers all week.

This is the lightest of the cutlet recipes, with the bright, acidic lemon juice perfectly complemented by the briny capers and the fresh parsley. Be sure to keep your dusting of flour light; you’re not making a thick egg-and-breadcrumb coating.

Saltimbocca means “leap in the mouth”—as in, this traditional Roman dish is so good that surprisingly it will just leap into your mouth. In Italy they make this dish with veal, but I find that the delicate flavors of veal get lost amid the strong tastes of the spinach and prosciutto, and I end up feeling like the very expensive veal cutlets were a waste of money. So I use chicken.

Perhaps the all-time number-one most popular Italian-American dish, Chicken Parmesan is often made of thickly breaded chicken cutlets topped with way too much cheese and garlicky tomato sauce. (And in many restaurants, if you can locate the actual Parmesan in the “Chicken Parmesan,” you should win a huge prize.) I wanted to remain true to the heartiness of the dish, but I also wanted to lighten it up a bit. So I don’t bread my cutlets, but instead brown them in a skillet before adding the topping and baking them.

The kids won’t be the only ones licking their fingers when you serve this. My mother made a dish similar to this when I was a kid and we just couldn’t get enough of it; the leftovers were my favorite after-school snack, eaten cold right out of the fridge. The rosemary and garlic are subtle but make the flavor a little more complex, and brushing the cooked drumettes with the reduced marinade intensifies the flavors even more.

Here is my version of chicken pot pie, with my twist being the addition of a pizza crust in place of the expected pastry topper. This is the kind of thing you can make for kids or adults: use a slightly larger ramekin for an adult-size serving and serve it with a side salad; or make it in smaller portions for kids and serve with veggie sticks or even French fries.

This is a perfect dish for parents and kids to make together. Let the little ones roll the meat mixture into tiny balls while you sauté each batch and do the knife work. At the end everyone can help stir the pasta, meatballs, and cheese and tomatoes together.

Tangy and sweet are the best words to describe this barbecue sauce. Make a double batch, take some to your next picnic, and you will thank me.