This week, Alysha Ferguson, the student development officer responsible for UTM’s Student Life programs, has provided her favourite summertime recipe in hopes of combating the recent chill. Luckily, Ferguson’s BBQ chicken can be prepared with a grill pan, since it’s highly unlikely that we’ll be heading outside to get an outdoor grill ready anytime soon.
Personally, I’m not a fan of adding pineapples to my barbecued chicken. It’s a little too sweet for me, but that’s a minor point as this recipe has a slightly larger potential problem. It’s the chicken itself—specifically, deciding how long to cook it. Ferguson recommends cooking the skewered chicken for about 15 minutes, but all the same, it’s easy to char the chicken, undercook it, or both. (Remember the black coating on your chicken at the last BBQ you went to? Let’s avoid that.)
Since I’m not a grilling expert, I’m relying on every family BBQ memory I have to help remedy the situation. The key is patience and remaining vigilant. Yes, you could lower the heat and cook the chicken slowly. Or you could be like me, staying alert and springing into action every single time the chicken threatens to catch fire. (Disclaimer: this is probably best left as a last resort—always give this slightly tedious job to another poor soul.)
But enough of my rambling—let’s take a look at Ferguson’s recipe.
BBQ Chicken
Serves 6–8
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 fresh pineapple
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 whole garlic cloves
- 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
- 16 wooden skewers (soaked in water for 30 minutes)
Method
- In a saucepan at medium heat, add the ketchup, soy sauce, honey, mustard, sugar, garlic, and lemon juice.
- Bring to a simmer and cook gently until thickened, about 10 minutes. Set aside and cool. This will be used as the sauce.
- Heat an outdoor grill or a grill pan.
- Cut each chicken thigh into two pieces.
- Peel the pineapple and cut it into 1 1/2” chunks.
- Alternating between the chicken and pineapple, thread the pieces onto the skewers. Brush the pieces with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper.
- Remove the garlic cloves from the barbecue sauce and discard.
- Put about half of the barbecue sauce into a small bowl for later.
- Brush skewers with some of the sauce.
- Cook the skewers on the grill, basting regularly with the barbecue sauce, until cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Serve with barbecue sauce on the side for dipping.
