Slow and Low

That is the tempo. With humble thanks to the Beastie Boys, I'm here to share with you the mantra for grilling. Slow and Low... that is the tempo for all happiness on the grill.

It's also an excuse to enter this dish into Elly's next round of Eat to the Beat! All summer I've been bonding with my grill, and this song is a recurring theme every time my hubs and I talk about whatever we might be grilling. And thanks to the fab outdoor speakers the hubs hooked up, we can listen while we cook. The hubs rocks.

Like a lot of my easy summer dishes, this one is again not much of a real recipe, but more of a technique for fantastic BBQ chicken. Most meats on the grill, and in particular bone-in meats on on the grill, take a while. And that's ok. It's summertime. Get yourself a drink. Take a seat on the deck. And let your grill do the work for you.

One key when making a BBQ chicken with a sauce that contains honey or sugar is to not sauce too early. This is where a dry rub comes in - to give you flavor that won't burn in the early stages of the cooking process. I'm a big fan of chicken leg quarters for BBQ chicken on the grill - lots of tender juicy dark meat and it makes a nice presentation too. Messy to eat, but that's part of the fun of outdoor cooking.

To start, I season my thighs with some sort of dry seasoning - it can be as simple as salt & pepper to fancy BBQ rubs. Tonight I used some Galena Street Rub from Penzeys. This stuff is fantastic - I sprinkled it on and got some under the skin as well. I start them bone side down and put them over a medium high heat. Close the lid and let them go about 20-25 minutes.

Open up the grill and flip them over - give them about 15-20 minutes on the skin side. The fat on the skin side will cook a little faster and you don't want too much char - some is good, but too much gets nasty tasting.

When the time is up the meat should be cooked through and it's time to sauce. Start by brushing the bone side that is now facing up with your favorite BBQ sauce - I'm in love with Dinosaur BBQ these days. Flip that sauced side down on the grill and sauce the tops. Close the grill again and give them another 5 minutes or so to just thicken up the sauce on the chicken. Remove from the heat and let stand for a few minutes - these suckers get hot. Serve with extra sauce for slathering.

We ate these tonight with corn bread and a simple grilled green beans. Tossed the beans in a grill basket with some olive oil on them. When done, sprinkled with kosher salt, lemon and a quick crumble of feta. Perfection.