char-grilled lime chicken (with cilantro)

[wallycat]

This is a recipe from our local paper by the Famous Chef..Sanford D'Amato. I made a few changes
We had this for dinner and LOVED it. It is now our second choice for bbq'd chicken (the asian bbq is still our favorite, but this is mighty close)...

I'll put parens for my changes

Char-grilled Lime Chicken with Cilantro

3 shallots (4 ounces), peeled and sliced thin (I used about 1 TBS dried onions because--can you believe I had NO onions OR shallots in the house )
3 garlic cloves (1 ounce), peeled and sliced thin
1/4 cup dark rum
1 cup fresh lime juice (6 to 7 limes) plus limes for garnish (I used bottled)
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons ground cumin seed
1 tablespoon ground fennel seed (skipped...didn't have any)
2 tablespoons medium hot chile powder (I used 1/2 tsp of my 90,000BTU cayenne pepper)
2 bunches cilantro, cleaned; 1 bunch chopped coarsely, 1 bunch reserved for garnish (divided) (I skipped this because DH whines if he has to eat Cilantro )
1 chicken (4 pounds), backbone removed, cut into quarters (2 leg and thigh portions, 2 breast portions) (I just used all leg/thigh portions)
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients except chicken and the reserved cilantro in a large bowl and mix well. Add chicken and toss together. Empty into a 1-gallon zipper-lock bag and close. Place in the refrigerator at least 24 hours (up to 30 hours). Turn every 8 hours to marinate evenly.

Next day, heat grill to medium-hot.

Remove chicken from marinade. Season with salt and pepper and grill about 15 minutes per side; chicken should be very crusty, but not burned. Check each piece with an instant-read thermometer to about 160 to 165 degrees for breasts and 170 to 175 degrees for leg and thigh portions.

Let rest 10 minutes. Serve with cilantro sprig garnish and extra limes, if desired. Makes enough to serve 2 hungry people.

[madpots]

This sounds so good. I just bought a new grill and this could be my first meal!

[Pico]

How funny--we had grilled cilantro-lime chicken for dinner too! My recipe is very similar (always use the cilantro, though!), but I like the addition of rum and/or wine in yours. How pronounced are those flavors? (I do like my marinades slightly spiked... ) I served the chicken with "salsa fresca": basically just chopped tomato, onion, cilantro, jalapeno, and lime juice. It was actually a better complement than I predicted!

[sneezles]

Ana,
That sounds wonderful! I may just have to adapt this for our 4th of July bbq (do it in the smoker either whole or split).

BTW, on the cilantro issue and whiney DHs (I've got one, too)...Have you tried using just the leaves and no stems? I find my DH doesn't whine quite so loud!

[wallycat]

Sneezles (Susan), DH will whine no matter what. He claims he likes it, but each time I add even ONE LEAF, he's asking what the weird taste is in there

Pico, the flavors blended very well...enough citrus without it being too sharp/puckery, the cayenne gave it the occasional hit of heat without too much pain, the rum gave it some warm overtones. I'd have to say, I didn't really notice the wine at all...maybe I used too cheap a white wine
Adding the salt/pepper right before grilling helped accent all the flavors in my opinion.
I think next time I would use an onion instead of the dried onions or spend the money on shallots...I usually have the onion on hand and because I dumped the marinade out I hate wasting a lot of the ingredients...though I suppose I could have reduced it on the stove and used it as a sauce/glaze.