Culinary Class: Grilled Chicken with Spicy Compound Butter, and Marinated Grilled Vegetables

Last week we covered the wet cooking methods of boiling and simmering. This week we turned to a dry cooking method, grilling. Grilling is cooking by radiant heat from below the food. To illustrate the difference, we cooked over both a gas grill, and a charcoal grill.

We marinated and grilled some zucchini and carrots. We did not get to make the marinade ourselves, as it needed time for the flavors to blend. I liked the marinade. It was flavored primarily by vinegar and yellow mustard, with some garlic, Worcestershire sauce, jalapeno, and parsley. It also has a fair amount of oil.

He had us grill the vegetables five minutes on each side. This was perfect for the zucchini, a little too little for the carrots. I think the carrots could have used another minute or two on each side.

We  made a compound butter to go on both the vegetables and the chicken. We mashed together butter with onion, garlic, sambal chili paste, a Thai chili, lime juice, and parsley. It was very tasty, although I would have liked more heat, the chili was hardly noticeable to me.

Before grilling the chicken, we brined it for a while in a simple brine of water, salt, and pepper. I love brines, they definitely help make poultry moist and flavorful. I have posted a much more complex brine before.

We also dusted the chicken with a simple dry rub of salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and paprika. This was a good, solid, basic rub. We grilled the chicken for about ten minutes on a side. It took just a little bit more than that on the charcoal, they had the grill set a little high above the coals.

Once the chicken was removed from the grill, we smeared it with the compound butter.

The chicken cooked over charcoal had more smokey flavor. Charcoal does have that advantage. Gas, however, is easier, in that it does not take long to come up to temperature. Cleanup is also easier on a gas grill, since there are no hot coals to dispose of.

This was not a particularly challenging exercise for me, as I am no stranger to the grill. I have demonstrated that on numerous occasions.

All recipes courtesy Chef Joe Orate.

Recipes

Chef Joe's Marinade for Grilling

1 cup salad oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. salt and pepper (combined)
1 Tbsp. minced parsley
1 Tbsp. minced jalapeno

Whisk together all ingredients.

Chef Joe's Spice Rub

2 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. granulated garlic
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Combine all ingredients.

Chef Joe's Chili - Lime Compound Butter

1/2 lb. butter, softened
1 oz. by wt. minced onion
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. sambal chili paste
1 Tbsp. minced parsley
1 Thai chili, minced
juice of one lime
salt and pepper to taste

Mash together all ingredients, until smooth.