Grilled Blueberry Bbq Chicken Recipes

BLUEBERRY BBQ CHICKEN

Steps:

• Sauce: In a food processor, add blueberries, vinegar, and sugar. Pulse to break up the berries into a chunky pulp. Place mixture into a saucepan; add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, and crushed red pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, covered, 10-15 minutes.
• Remove from heat; remove cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Carefully transfer the sauce to a blender. Make sure the lid is entirely sealed to prevent sauce from spattering while you blend. Blend the sauce to a smooth consistency, starting on low speed and gradually increasing to high. When sauce is smooth, strain it through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl.
• Transfer sauce back to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, uncovered, and reduce by ¼, about 5 minutes. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon, and the viscosity should be more like maple syrup than honey. Pour into a container and cool to room temperature. Makes about 2 cups. (Sauce will keep for up to 6 months refrigerated in a lidded container.)
• Prep chicken: Lay spatchcocked chicken breast side up on a wire rack fitted over a rimmed baking sheet. Season liberally on both sides with salt and pepper (about 15 turns of a pepper mill per side). Let rest at room temperature while preheating the grill, 30 minutes.
• Grill chicken: Preheat a charcoal grill to medium-high heat, about 375 F. The coals should be ashed over in some places, with red embers burning within. Move the coals to one side of the grill to create areas of both direct and indirect heat. Place the chicken skin side up on the side of the grill over the coals (direct heat). Cover and cook, 15 minutes.
• Divide the Blue Q Sauce: half should be used for basting, while the other half should be reserved for the final baste and for serving. (If the cooled sauce has thickened too much, simply reheat in a saucepan over low heat, or briefly microwave to return to its original syrupy consistency before using.) Remove the lid. Use tongs to flip the chicken over, skin side down, onto the indirect heat side of the grill. Baste the underside of the bird with Blue Q Sauce, then gently re-position back over direct heat, still skin side down. Cover and cook, 5 minutes. Repeat this process-flipping, basting, and grilling for 5 minutes at a time, covered-2-3 more times, until chicken is fully cooked. (The leg, when tugged, should become loosened from the breast. Alternatively, a thermometer placed in the thickest part of the thigh, avoiding the bone, should register 165 F.) Discard remaining basting sauce.
• Remove chicken from the grill and place on a cutting board, skin side up. Use reserved Blue Q Sauce to baste one last time and let rest, 5 minutes. Cut the chicken into 6 or 8 pieces and drizzle once more with sauce. Serve warm or at room temperature with additional sauce on the side.

GRILLED BLUEBERRY BBQ CHICKEN

Steps:

• To make the blueberry bbq sauce in advance, combine the blueberries, apple cider vinegar, water, ketchup, mustard, honey, onion powder, garlic powder and cayenne in a medium saucepan. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Stir as it heats. Once boiling, lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Stir the BBQ sauce often. Once it's done simmering, use an immersion blender to puree the mixture until smooth. Be careful as the sauce will be quite hot! Once smooth, place the sauce in a storage container and refrigerate.
• To make the broccoli salad in advance, measure the almonds into a large or medium saute pan and set over medium heat. Toast until golden, about 5-8 minutes, shaking pan often to prevent burning.
• Slice the bacon into small pieces. Once the almonds are done cooking, transfer them to a clean plate or bowl and set the pan back over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until it is brown and nearly crispy. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.
• To finish, combine the mayonnaise, honey, Dijon, red wine vinegar and cayenne in a large bowl. Stir to mix well, then add the broccoli, green onion, dried cranberries or cherries and the toasted almonds. Once bacon is done, add this to the bowl as well and finish by seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Store in fridge until ready to serve.
• Finally, to cook the chicken, heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. If using a grill pan indoors, add olive oil. Once oil is nearly smoking, set the seasoned drumsticks on the pan. I like to set them fattiest side face down first. Sear the meat until nice char marks form, them rotate a quarter turn. Lower heat at this point to medium and continue to cook and rotate until all sides of the drumsticks are marked. If cooking indoors, about halfway through, tent the chicken with aluminum foil to help bake the chicken all the way through. You can achieve this on an outdoor grill simply by putting the lid on. Chicken should take anywhere from 25-35 minutes to cook depending on the size of your drumsticks and level of heat from your grill pan or stove.
• Measure about 1/4 cup of blueberry BBQ sauce into a small dish. Once chicken is just about done, start basting the chicken with the sauce. The sugars in the sauce can burn easily so I like to baste and turn and baste and turn to help the sauce set on the chicken but not sit too long and char.
• Scoop broccoli salad onto each plate, along with 1 or 2 drumsticks. Serve and enjoy!

RED, WHITE, AND BLUEBERRY GRILLED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Whisk oil, salt, paprika, chipotle pepper, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and garlic in a bowl to make marinade. Place chicken breasts in marinade and turn to coat evenly. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Spread sugar in a saucepan set over medium heat. Do not stir, but watch closely as sugar begins to melt after about 1 minute. As sugar melts it will gradually turn a golden color. Continue watching but not stirring. When all sugar has melted and golden color just begins to darken a bit (after 1 minute or less), remove pan from heat. Pour in vinegar and stir until sugar dissolves.
• Place pan over medium-high heat and add blueberries to the sugar-vinegar mixture. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until blueberries soften and mixture begins to thicken, 4 or 5 minutes. It should be a syrup-like consistency. If sauce seems too thin, simmer a few more minutes. If it seems too thick, add a splash of water. Stir in salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
• Set a strainer over a bowl. Strain berries, using a spatula to push through as much juice as possible. Discard skins.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate. Drain excess marinade from chicken.
• Place chicken breasts on preheated grill. Cook until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 4 minutes per side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Transfer chicken to a plate and allow to rest a few minutes.
• Serve breasts on a swirl of blueberry sauce with more sauce drizzled on top.