Fourth Of July 2008, Barbecued Chicken, Themed Ingredient- Coffee.
I would like to wish everyone a happy 4th of July. I know that on the 4th of July most of us like to barbecue and this morning at about 6:30am I was told that my oldest daughter had requested a barbecued chicken dish that I grill up. For a little background, this daughter doesn’t usually have a taste for chicken but for some reason this version that I developed became a hit with my family when I first made it about 3 weeks ago.
The thing about doing anything with chicken around here is that the only chicken parts I can get away with using is the breast meat. I prefer bone in but have found that even skinless and boneless chicken breast work well with this recipe.
Here goes.
I start with a large bowl and add about 1 gallon of cold water and a ½ cup of salt. I then place either 4 boneless breast or 2 bone in breast into the salted water brine. If the chicken doesn’t want to stay under I fill a zipper bag with water in it over the pieces and that usually does the trick. I let this chicken soak over night or if time matters at least for one hour. This brine works really well for making the chicken very moist and seeing how it is breast meat it really helps.
For my spice rub the unusual themed ingredient coffee comes into play. I know this sounds weird but the results come with a very pleasing taste. I take 2 tablespoons of fresh coffee grounds, ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon, a dash of garlic powder, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper and a pinch or so of white sugar and mix every thing together well.
After I remove the chicken from the brine I dry it very well with paper towels and lay them on a sheet pan. I then sprinkle the coffee spice rub over the chicken, turn and get the other side and then rub it in really well.
At this point I get the grill going. I take a few hickory chips that have been soaked in water and wrap them in foil. I poke a few holes into the foil to release some smoke. I set the charcoal to one side of the grill to make a hot side.
After the chicken has sat for about 1 hour with the coffee rub in the fridge I let it come back up to room temperature. Before I place it on the cooler side of the grill I first place my foil pack of wood chips on the coals, I then take a paper towel with vegetable oil on it and brush the grill so that the chicken doesn’t stick. I then place the chicken onto the grill and close the grill. I set the vent hole over the chicken to draw the smoke up over the chicken. I like to get the temperature of the grill up to about 300 degrees for this step in making the chicken. I want it to smoke for about 20 minutes to ½ hour. If I were to do a whole chicken I would split it in half and then slow smoke it for about 1 hour. For good heat control try to remember that for every charcoal briquette you use you get about 15 degrees of heat.
Now while the breast smoke I make my coffee themed barbecue sauce. I take 1 cup of brewed coffee( I normal size espresso can save you some work here) and place it in a sauce pan, I then add ¼ cup of brown sugar, ½ cup of catsup, ¼ cup of honey, a splash of vinegar, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, ½ a medium onion minced really fine and a garlic clove minced very fine, a pinch or so of salt. I Then over a low heat bring this mixture to a simmer and then reduce it down to a rather thick syrup.
After the breast have been on the grill smoking for about 20 minutes to a ½ hour it’s time for grilling and giving them a good barbecued chicken effect. I brush the tops of the breast with barbecue sause and set them over the coals sause side down. I then brush the other side. I stay by the grill for this because one thing I really hate is to taste burnt food and with all the sugar in the barbecue sauce burning can happen really fast. I let the breast sit for maybe a minute or so and then turn. I recoat and flip again several times. I get a nice glaze on the chicken and if I am concerned with the thickness of the breast and for doneness I just stick my meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast and hopefully it comes close to 160 degrees. If not I just keep flipping and glazing. Not every breast will finish at the same time unless I am using boneless breast that are all about the same thickness. After I remove the breast from the grill I place them onto a clean sheet pan and cover with foil to let them rest. While resting the internal temperature of the breast actually climbs to 165 degrees plus. Extremely safe for eating I would think.
To serve the chicken I like to cut the pieces from the breast as thin as possible and serve with some of the barbecue sauce drizzled over it. When I fist made this chicken I had images of having coffee grinds all stuck in my teeth and the bitter taste. Not at all. I asked my wife and kids how they liked the chicken and if they could tell what secret spice I had used. Now my wife downs several coffee pots of coffee every day and she couldn’t tell that it was coffee until I told her and then it was so recognizable to her. I was truly shocked at how well the flavors of coffee and chicken work so well together.
I have to thank the barbecue guru on the PBS network for steering me into the direction of coming up with this recipe on my own. He gave me the idea with a dish that he had done so I worked with it and to me that is what cooking is all about. Taking chances, learning and tasting something new and getting out of the bored hum drum life of eating the same thing day after day and week after week.
Just a note; In the past week NY City passed a law banning trans fatty acids. People are up in arms about it. Just my opinion here; I remember the good old days when you went out for French fries they where cooked in fat. They were sooooooo good. One day that changed and the restaurants like McDonalds started using Hydrogenated Oils for deep- frying. Margarine became a staple in people homes. People should do some research regarding what these things are. Margarine, lol, is only a few molecules off from being plastic. I am thinking that some day high fructose corn syrup will go out, as should the trans fatty acids. I am very happy that some day soon the really good French fries from long ago may be making a return.
