Grilled Citrus Chicken under a brick (or Skillet)

Michael and I recently went to a cooking demo/class in Burlingame and learned some great tricks to grilling and marinading. One of the biggest lessons was about making the most of your marinade. You will see from the recipe below is that you can make a great marinade and then cook and use it as a sauce / gravy afterwards.


At first, we were skeptical - Is it safe was this biggest thing on our minds. But here's the trick. After preparing the marinade (see recipe below), pour into a small saucepan and boil (at least 3 minutes) to cook off all bacteria. Bring to a soft boil until reduced (by about 60%) and thickened. This makes an excellence sauce / gravy for your chicken. Delicious!

Grilled Citrus Chicken:

1 cup Fresh Orange Juice
1/3 cup Fresh Lime Juice
1/4 cup fresh Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Oregano
3 Tsp Salt, divided
2 Tsp Finely Chopped Fresh Rosemary
1 Garlic Clove, Chopped
1 Whole Chicken (approx 3-5 lbs)
1 Tsp Paprika (Hungarian or Smoked is nice)
1 Tsp Black Pepper
1-1/2 Oranges
2-foil wrapped bricks OR 1- Cast Iron Skillet

Whisk juices, olive oil, oregano, 1 Tsp salt, rosemary and garlic in a glass baking dish. Add Chicken to marinade.

Note: Use good kitchen scissors or a sharp knife to cut cleanly between the whole chicken's breasts to open up for marinade.

Turn to coat, chill at least 2 hours to overnight, turning occasionally.

When your ready to cook, mix remaining 2 Tsp salt, paprika and pepper in a small bowl

Note: Do not be shy with the salt - make sure you coat the chicken liberally with salt to bring out the flavor (don't worry, the chicken won't be salty ;-)

Grill:

Spray grill rack with non-stick cook spray (or brush with olive oil). Slice 1/4 slices of oranges, loosen skin from chicken and place slices underneath skin (breasts and thighs). Rub paprika mixture all over chicken (don't forget underneath the skin) Prepare BBQ over medium heat (about 400 degrees).

Place chicken, skin side down on grill. place skillet (or bricks) on top of chicken. Cover and grill until skin is crispy and brown, about 15 mins. Turn chicken on grill, replace cover and let cook about 15 mins longer. Let chicken rest about 10 mins.

While chicken is cooking, pour marinade into a saucepan, bring to a boil and reduce until thickened, making a great sauce for the chicken.

Ina's Lemon Angel Food Cake!

Ina Garten's Lemon Angel Food Cake

-This is an easy recipe. The only downside is the amount of sifting. I make this quite often and people really enjoy it. Once you make your own angel food, I guarantee you will never buy a store-bought bland sponge again! This recipe is light, fluffy and full of flavor. Plus, angel food uses egg whites, which is a plus for my hubby Michael, who has high-cholesterol (egg-yolks are a no-no). It's a much healthier alternative. You can eat it plain or add fruit, etc...

Here are a few helpful tips before you start:

1) Make sure you use CAKE FLOUR!!! 'Softasilk' can be found at most grocery stores.
2) If you don't have a sifter, use a mesh sieve - either way, your arm will get a work out...
3) Make a summer fruit compote (Fresh Berries, lemon juice and sugar) along with some homemade whip cream for fun!
4) When cake is cooled, add a lightly dripped glaze of lemon juice and confectioner's sugar for added lemon flavor.
5) If you don't have superfine sugar, put standard granulated sugar in the food processor and pulse until consistency is superfine.
6) Enjoy!

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 2 cups sifted superfine sugar, divided
• 1 1/3 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 1/2 cups egg whites, at room temperature (10 to 12 eggs)
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine 1/2 cup of sugar with the flour and sift together 4 times. Set aside.

Place the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on high speed until the eggs make medium-firm peaks, about 1 minute. With the mixer on medium speed, add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of sugar by sprinkling it over the beaten egg whites. Whisk for a few minutes until thick and shiny. Whisk in the vanilla and lemon zest and continue to whisk until very thick, about 1 more minute. Sift about 1/4 of the flour mixture over the egg whites and fold it into the batter with a rubber spatula. Continue adding the flour by fourths by sifting and folding until it's all incorporated.

Pour the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, smooth the top, and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes, until it springs back to the touch. Remove the cake from the oven and invert the pan on a cooling rack until cool.

Fool proof BBQ corn.

Well to be honest nothing is fool proof in the hands of a fool.But this method is pretty easy.Here is what you need.

1.Corn Shucked and cleaned.We use a lot of corn so the 8 pack from Costco is great for us.
2.Tin foil one square large enough to wrap the corn very loosely.
3.Salt and other spices to taste.We use sea salt ,paprika and Aleppo crushed pepper flakes.
4.Bowl large enough to hold all the corn while filled with water.

Place corn on a piece of foil and salt/spice to taste.You can be aggressive with the spice as the water will dilute it a bit.

Fold the foil at one end.Make sure its loose. If its too tight the corn does not cook as well and takes longer.

Pour water in the open end of the foil.It works out to about a half cup of water.

Loosely close the end and seal the foil.Then place all the corn in a bowl filled with water till you are ready to cook.

When you start up the grill put on the corn right away.It takes between 20-30 minutes to cook.It works best to put the corn over med high to high heat. Be careful when you open the foil as there will be some really hot water.I usually open it over the grill and put the corn into the bowl that previously had water in it. The whole process is not precise,but it does not need to be.The water steams the corn and its hard to over cook it.