Just when I thought a chicken breast can’t get any better I marinated some chicken breasts and grilled them, ending up with what I thought was the best tasting grilled chicken breast yet. The marinade has everything a great marinade should have: big flavor, perfect balance and complexity. Needless to say, my grilled chicken breast turned out so well that there were no leftovers and I was asked to make more. ASAP! The recipe for the marinade was adapted with a couple of changes from the book called Flavorize: Great Marinades, Injections, Brines, Rubs, and Glazes. There are many really interesting recipes in the book that I want to try, but this one caught my eye. I was not wrong. When preparing this marinade it’s best to blend all ingredients together in a blender. This will help prevent separation of oil and make the marinade velvety smooth.
The recipe provides enough marinade for about 2-3 pounds of chicken meat: 1 whole chicken, 4 chicken breasts, about 10 chicken thighs, etc. Coat pieces of chicken with the marinade and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. This marinade has a relatively thick consistency and needs time to penetrate the meat. Overnight marination will give you even better flavor penetration and distribution inside the meat. Best of all, marinate the night before and cook the next afternoon, leaving the meat to marinate up 24 hours. This way all you have to do is remove the meat from the fridge and grill it when you come back from work. And you will get the best possible flavor. I added enough salt in this marinade for just 4 bone-in chicken breasts (or equivalent). This way if you leave the meat marinate for longer it won’t get too salty. But, try it and see if it’s salty enough. If not, add more to your taste. This marinade is not sugary but it does tend to caramelize fairly quickly. To avoid charring and burning, grill the chicken over direct heat a few minutes per side to achieve desired color and browning, then move the meat to indirect heat or a less hot spot on the grill. Bone-in chicken breasts take about 20-30 minutes to fully cook on my Big Green Egg. I like to eliminate any guesswork and use an accurate Instant Read Meat Thermometer, which helps quite a bit. If you don’t have a thermometer, grill until juices run clear and no longer pink. Let the meat rest for 5 minutes before cutting. This allows the meat reabsorb some of the juices lost during grilling.
