Grillin’ and Chillin’ in Crystal Valley
Firing up the grill this weekend? When we discovered that chicken outpaces beef in American consumption – 65.2 pounds of chicken per person vs. 54.6 pounds of beef, we collected a few winner-winner-(grilled)-chicken-dinner recipes for summer barbecues.
Best of the Best Grilled Chicken
From sweet-and-smoky BBQ to bold jerk chicken (and everything in between), it’s hard to beat the lightly charred flavor of these Food Network recipes for chicken on the grill. If you’re a dark meat afficionado, thighs are probably high on your list of favorite chicken parts. This recipe for marinated chicken thighs scored high with home chefs and grill-meisters – using a basic marinade with herbs, garlic, shallots, salt plus pink and black peppercorns with a whole lotta olive oil.
Do you know anyone who doesn’t like Hot Wings? This recipe uses a spicy chipotle sauce and a blue cheese/yogurt dipping sauce that cuts the intense smokiness of the ancho chile sauce. From Bobby Flay, celebrity chef and restaurateur who has known his way around a kitchen since the age of 8 when this NYC native and fourth generation Irish-American asked his parents for an Easy-Bake Oven for Christmas…and got it!
But Bobby’s Best Grilled Chicken recipe is allegedly a Tangerine-Maple Glazed Chicken – using thighs AND drumsticks. He says it takes about 15 to 20 minutes on the grill, but it’s worth it. Watch him BBQ chicken with Al Roker in their backyards on YouTube – slathering on Bobby’s from-the-pantry homemade BBQ sauce.
Perfect for a Party Grilled Chicken
What could be easier than juicy grilled chicken kabobs? If you don’t have skewers, you can pick up a metal set at Walmart, Kohls, or on Amazon, or grab some bamboo skewers at the grocery store. You can use breasts or thighs, and blogger Ali, at Gimme Some Oven, will walk you through the whole brining, seasoning and grilling process (10 to 14 minutes).
Ali pops her chicken pieces in a big bowl with olive oil and favors a garlic-smoked paprika-pepper seasoning recipe, but also offers up some options for Italian seasoning, Cajun, Za’atar and Everything But the Bagel seasoning. And if you’re looking for a few more summery favorites to go with your kabobs, check out her recipes for Five Ingredient Pasta Salad, Lemony Artichoke Pasta Salad, Roasted Brussel Sprouts, and Easy Rum-Soaked Grilled Pineapple (for dessert).
Pioneer Woman’s Spice-Rubbed Grilled Chicken makes things healthy and interesting, with a rub of paprika, chili powder, cumin, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper – plus a little red wine vinegar and honey. Check out the rest of these Pioneer Woman’s grilled chicken recipes here.
Margarita Grilled Chicken from The Stay-at-Home Chef is salty lime goodness and perfect for a backyard barbecue, cookout or summer party. The marinade recipe calls for a two-hour bath for four chicken breasts in a combination of cilantro, garlic, margarita mix, sugar and olive oil. This one got a five-star rating and goes great with grilled potatoes in a foil packet, coated with basil, garlic, pine nuts and Parmesan.
Whole Chickens and International Flavors
Photo: J.Kenji-Lopez
Serious Eats is serious about its chicken and right off the top of its 23-recipe collection of grilled chicken dinners is the Butterflied Chicken (spatchcocked) and the Thai-style satay chicken – whole birds roasted on the grill. For the best grilled chicken, Serious Eats chefs recommend a slow cook, to prepare the skin for crisping and then finishing it off directly over the hot coals until the skin’s crackly and charred and the meat’s tender-juicy.
The low-and-slow technique cooks the chicken gently and infuses lots of smoke. For extra flavor, chefs recommend brushing the chicken with barbecue sauce toward the end of cooking. Now the Thai-style grilled chicken, coated in a marinade flavored with cilantro, white pepper, and fish sauce, is supposed to be one of the tastiest things you’ll ever pull off your grill. It gives off a mouth-wateringly intense aroma And here’s how to make it in your own backyard.
You’ll also find Caribbean, Middle Eastern, Greek-Styled, Peruvian, Tandoori, Korean-Styled, Hawaiian, Turkish, and Japanese recipes here on Serious Eats, something for every palate and mood!
Backyards are Busy in Crystal Valley
Backyards in the master-planned community of Crystal Valley have delicious smells wafting from grills as homeowners enjoy their outdoor living space in Castle Rock. Come and explore the new homes surrounded by nature and only minutes from everything you need. With beautiful decorated models from Richmond American Homes, Kauffman Homes, Century Communities and D.R. Horton, the thoughtfully designed ranch or two-story models – are priced from the $400s.
