It was a long weekend. A long amazing weekend, full of wine and old friends and new friends and no kid. Amazing. But phew, I'm pooped. And kind of sick of wine. I don't know how people do it for a living, honestly.
But not only was it a great weekend, it was a wet one. And not wet like, oh lovely summer showers wet. It was more like, "Noah get the Ark" monsoons, and wind and broken trees and trashed rose bushes, and wine tasting in the pouring freaking rain. And you know how I LOVE the rain people.
And I had planned for a great grilling recipe for Friday. A delicious, incredibly different grilled chicken, with the most interesting, amazing white BBQ sauce. But when Friday rolled around and it was pouring down rain? Eh. Not interested in talking or writing about grilling outside. The rain just sucked the desire to grill right out of me.
But the rain has stopped. And while the sun isn't shining down and the weather isn't warm and grill-appropriate here... I know it is somewhere across the country. So instead of being a whiny twit about the weather sucking and how much I hate the rain... I will present you instead with this great recipe for grilled chicken.
I stumbled upon it when I was looking for a simple, easy marinade for grilled chicken. We rarely do chicken, since most times I won't buy chicken breasts from the store, but get the whole thing from the farm... but I had some great Petaluma Poultry Organic chicken breasts that I was ready to grill, and I didn't want to waste them with something mediocre.
Now the marinade sounds kind of strange. I definitely was thinking that it was either going to be DELICIOUS or TERRIBLE, especially since it calls for mayonnaise and I hate the stuff with a passion. But as my mother in law once reminded me, mayonnaise is only eggs, vinegar and oil, so it's pretty much what most marinades are made of anyway. Hell, I know people that put it in their cupcakes to make them moist! But I digress.
I left the chicken to marinade in this strange concoction overnight and I'm so glad that I did. It was flavorful and juicy, full of the flavors of rosemary and lemon, and probably the moistest chicken I've ever cooked. I bet that this marinade would even be good with pork chops, which I find to be IMPOSSIBLE to cook.
But don't let the White BBQ Sauce scare you. It's so incredibly amazing... So enjoy and hopefully your weather is better than ours.
Ingredients
2/3 cup Mayonnaise
Grated zest of 1/2 Lemon
1/4 cup fresh Lemon Juice
2 tsp chopped fresh Rosemary
1-2 large Garlic Cloves, minced - I love garlic so I tend to add more. If you don't like it, put the garlic through a crusher and only use that. Otherwise, go nuts... it really makes the chicken delicious!
8 boneless and skinless Chicken Breast halves - I didn't use this much. I got chicken breasts, with the rib meat, and separated them to make 6 pieces. Worked fine.
Salt and Pepper
Directions
For the sauce, whisk the mayonnaise, lemon zest, juice, rosemary and garlic together. Transfer to a covered container and let chill. You can leave it in there up to three days if you're not ready for the chicken yet.
One at a time, place the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap or inside of a plastic bag. Beat the hell out of them with a meat mallet or rolling pin until they are about 1/2 an inch thick and even. Season them with salt and pepper and place into a plastic bag with the marinade. They can be left for up to a day in the marinade and I would suggest going as long as you can. It's totally worth every extra hour.
To grill the chicken, lightly oil the cooking grate. Place the chicken on the grill and go about 4 minutes on the first side, or until the chicken starts to look opaque and you have nice sear marks. Turn, brush the other half with sauce and cook about 4 minutes on that side. Turn once more, brush the side with the sauce and cook until the chicken feels firm to the touch, about 2-4 minutes longer. Take it to the carving board but let it sit for another 3-5 minutes, where it will continue to cook and redistribute the juices.
Slice it up, put it on a platter and serve it hot. It's really really delicious.
