Chi Wulffs Friday Feast 10 October: Grilled Orange Chicken

by Mark McGlothlin on October 10, 2014

in Friday Feast

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Back a few years ago, on one of those three day runs to the Green River I was known to take occasionally with some friends in Salt Lake City, we had a buddy bring along a friend of his wife’s visiting from Hawaii.

Many of you probably had the same visceral response to that phrase ‘friend of my wife’s’ that most of us did – more often than not said friend is not a fly fisher or even worse, thinks they are, along the lines of Neal in The Movie.

For the life I can’t remember this guy’s name; long story short he had never fly fished but made a game effort and caught some fish (it was Cicada season and for the most part fishing was like shooting fish in a barrel, particularly on the afternoon floats).

The second day I had him in my boat for both the morning and afternoon floats and he began to wear on us a bit given his endless descriptions of ‘how much bigger and faster and beautiful’ the fish were in Hawaii. It wasn’t as bad as a couple of my compadres would have you believe, though by that evening several guys were ready to tie him up, attach all the drift boat anchors in camp and assign him to the not-so-briny deep of Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

His saving grace came in the fact that he had (in another life) worked as a chef and that evening whipped out of couple of big containers of this Grilled Orange Chicken that had been marinating in a cooler.

He grilled it over a hardwood charcoal fire as the sun set that evening in camp, with eleven famished guys watching his every move. He grilled it to perfection, taking care to get the skin crispy and golden brown with just a spot of tasty char here and there. While the chicken was grilling he cut up, with a bit of flair as I recall, several pineapples and avocados to serve alongside, grilled of course. The beer was cold and flowed liberally; peace was restored to camp.

The chicken saved him.

1/2 cup Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup finely minced ginger
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (try basil if not a cilantro fan)
2 tbsp. Asian garlic chile sauce
1 and 1/2 tbsp. minced fresh orange zest
1 tsp. salt
2 whole green onions, minced

2 chickens, cut, rinsed and patted dry

Marinade time. Combine everything but the chickens, mix well and divide in half. Pour half over the cut up chickens, taking care to cover every piece with some of the marinade, cover and place in the fridge for up to 8 hours (the longer the better).

Fire the grill, bring the chicken to room temperature.

Grill it up. Given the amount of sugar in this marinade you’ll want to grill over indirect heat. Grill for 10-12 minutes per side, brushing a bit of the reserved marinade along the way (we like to save a bit for the table too) until the chicken is done (breast 160 F / thighs 170 F) and-or the juices run clear. Pull and let rest for a few minutes.

Serve it up with big stack of steaming hot corn tortillas, a couple of fresh sliced avocados and a mango or papaya salsa.

Enjoy.