When we grill chicken, sometimes the outside gets burned while the inside isn’t thoroughly cooked, especially if we’re cooking a lot of chicken. Recently while we were on a family trip and cooking for about 15 people, we tried a different method, which gave the chicken a nice crispy outside, while keeping the inside moist but done. And all the chicken was cooked and ready at the same time, leaving the grill “master” (my husband that night) with time to visit instead of standing over the grill. Along with the chicken and homemade sauce, we’re serving up one of the best corn salads I’ve ever made or tasted (from one of my new favorite cookbooks, “Keepers”, by former Saveur (a cooking magazine) editors Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion, ($26.99.) To round out the meal we made some stuffed potatoes. All for less than $10 for a family of 4. This would also make a great meal for your Labor Day cookout. To keep the costs down, we used chicken thighs and legs, which are actually juicier than the breast. The barbecue sauce does contain a lot of ingredients but don’t let that scare you off. Most of the ingredients are probably items you already have on hand and it seriously takes less than 5 minutes to throw it all together. It tastes so much better than bottled sauce and is super cheap. You’ll have enough left over for burgers, chops or steaks. The entire meal of chicken (a leg and thigh per person,) corn and potatoes came in at approximately $7.25 for a family of 4.
BARBECUE CHICKEN WITH HOMEMADE SAUCE –
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 chicken thighs and 4 chicken legs (about 3 pounds)
- barbecue sauce (recipe to follow)
Directions:
Preheat grill to medium heat. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Clean and pat chicken dry with a paper towel. Cook 10 minutes on grill to sear, turning once. Place seared chicken in oven and cook 15 minutes. Baste chicken with sauce and continue cooking for 25 minutes, basting and turning occasionally.
BARBECUE SAUCE –
Ingredients:
(Makes about a quart, which can be refrigerated up to 1 month)
- 1 1/2 cups ketchup
- 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- lemon juice from 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger (which I think makes this taste extra good!)
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions:
Mix all together…it’s that easy! If you like your sauce spicier, add more red pepper flakes. Taste after you have it mixed and feel free to add a bit more of whatever ingredient you like to make it your own.
I also made this corn salad on our family vacation and everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, loved it. Fresh corn makes all the difference.
CORN SALAD WITH RADISHES, JALAPENO, and LIME
(From Keepers cookbook by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion)
Working time: 3 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 3 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 large ears)
- 6 radishes, thinly sliced
- 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and ribs removed, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (I always zest whatever fruit I’m juicing since it’s free, and add a bit of zest to the plate for flavor and presentation)
- 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and season with salt to taste. (I made it once without salt and once with and both were equally good.) The salad can be stored covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.
I make stuffed potatoes a lot, using different ingredients, depending on what else I’m serving. Since we had the zing of the barbecue sauce and the tang of the corn salad, I kept the potatoes neutral. You can of course add sour cream, cheese, or whatever else you like but for this meal, I think “plain” works best. If you do add other ingredients, simply add them to the potato mixture before browning the potatoes. You can bake your potatoes in the oven or microwave, depending on your favorite method.
STUFFED POTATOES –
Ingredients:
- 4 potatoes
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3 to 4 green onions, sliced
Directions:
Bake potatoes…*if you haven’t baked potatoes before, there’s a couple of different ways you can do this. Cut potatoes in half, lengthwise. Scoop the potato flesh out with a spoon, leaving the shell. Put the potato flesh in a bowl. Add the butter, milk, salt and pepper. Whip with a mixer or mash with a potato masher. Spoon the potato mixture back in the shell. Sprinkle green onion on potatoes. Broil for a couple of minutes till the top gets slightly browned.
*Baking Potatoes
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash potatoes and prick with fork tines. If you want you can rub them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. (You don’t have to use oil though.) Place on baking sheet or oven rack. Bake 45-60 minutes, which will give you a crisper shell.
- Do the same as above but wrap potatoes in tin foil (for a softer skin.)
- Wash and prick potatoes and place on microwave safe dish. Cook on full power for 5 minutes. Turn potatoes over and microwave another 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how large the potatoes are. If the potatoes need more cooking, microwave at 1 minute intervals until soft.