Fingers are crossed for a sunny Memorial Day in SoCal (although it’s not looking too promising). Hopefully the weekend will be full of sunshine wherever you may be. Either way this grilled chicken will definitely brighten it up with flavors reminiscent of Spain.
Juicy rosemary brined chicken basted with a caramelized orange grilling glaze that’s been infused with rosemary and smoked paprika! You can make the Orange and Rosemary Grilling Glaze up to a week ahead if you are pressed for time. Cooks Note: have all your ingredients prepped and measured before you start making the glaze. It goes pretty quickly once the sugar has carmelzied.
Dress it up for you buffet table or picnic basket with fresh orange slices and sprigs of rosemary. To go with it, I’m serving Chili-Lime Buttered Grilled Corn (background).
- For the brine:
- ¼ cup Kosher salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 to 3 (4-inch) stems of fresh rosemary
- 3 cups cold water
- :
- 4 pounds cut up chicken, bone in and skin on
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Orange and Rosemary Grilling Glaze (recipe follows)
- Combine the salt, 1 cup of water, and rosemary in a small saucepan. Simmer just until salt is dissolved; remove from heat and stir in cold water. Cool brine to room temperature. Rinse the chicken, and combine with the brine in a large bowl or zip-top bag and refrigerate for 2 hours to 6 hours.
- Remove chicken from refrigerator 45 minutes to and hour before cooking. Rinse chicken to remove excess brine and pat dry with paper towels. Season the chicken with a little kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set up grill for indirect grilling over medium heat (This means no direct heat source under bird). Brush and oil grate when ready to start cooking and the cooking temp is 350˚F.
- Place the chicken skin-side down on the direct heat side of the grill and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side. Move to the direct side of the grill skin-side up. Close the cover and cook for about 30 minutes. Start basting with the grilling glaze and flip every 5 minutes until the chicken is done. The chicken is cooked when the internal temperature reached 165˚F and is no longer pink at the bone.
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest, finely chopped and packed
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
- ½ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook (without stirring) until the sugar turns a medium caramel color. Add the orange zest, garlic, paprika, and red pepper flakes and stir until fragrant; about 30 seconds. Carefully stir in the orange juice, ketchup, rosemary, paprika, and salt. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for about 15 minutes or until the mixture is thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon. Keep warm until ready to use or cool and refrigerate for up to one week.
Cheers and Happy Grilling!
Jeff
oh my goodness- THAT CORN in the background looks amazing! If you’re interested, I’d love for you to share a post at the a blog link up I’m hosting today. All you need is a URL of a post you’d like to contribute. It’s a great little circle of bloggers!
xoxo K
{Big Grin} Thanks, K! Here is the link to the corn http://wp.me/p2jbnh-K5
I’d love to be part of your blogger circle!
Hey Jeff, I lost track of the URL where you post for Bull! So glad to see your great recipes again. Now that I found you again, I’ll be following closely! Hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend!