May 26, 2002 – Celebrate Memorial Day by grilling on your patio or at the beach. Chicken marinated, then cooked, in a barbecue sauce sparked with mango jam is one of our favorites.
For the perfect grilled chicken, remember these tips:
1. To prevent the chicken from sticking to the grill or picking up flavors of foods previously grilled, scrub the grill rack well and then — while the grill is cool — spray it with vegetable cooking spray. Do not spray the substance onto a hot grill! Doing so could cause a dangerous flare up. A special wire brush works well for scrubbing. It can be found at supermarkets and hardware stores.
2. Chicken must be seared over a hot grill before turning or the skin will stick to the grill. To reduce fat content, you can remove the chicken skin before cooking. However, this can make the meat less juicy, so be sure to marinate the poultry well before cooking and to baste it often during the cooking.
3. While cooking on a grill, use long-handled tongs, not a fork, to turn the chicken pieces. The tines of a fork will pierce the meat, allow the flavorful juices to escape and ultimately making the chicken dry.
Chicken with Mango-Flavored Barbecue Sauce
3 lbs. to 3 1/2 lbs. chicken pieces — drumsticks, breasts, legs and thighs
28 oz. can tomato puree
12 oz. jar mango jam
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
Splash of your favorite hot pepper sauce, if desired
Wash chicken and remove skin, if desired. Place chicken in a shallow dish. Combine remaining ingredients and mix well; pour into a saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 10 to 15 minutes until thickened. Pour sauce evenly over chicken. Turn chicken pieces so they are well coated with sauce. Refrigerate chicken in sauce and allow to marinate for 4 to 6 hours, or overnight. *
When you are ready to cook the chicken, heat the grill. Cook chicken for 25 to 30 minutes over medium heat, turning the pieces often and basting them repeatedly with the barbecue sauce until chicken is cooked. Serves 6.
Per serving: 260 calories, 10 gms fat (36 percent fat calories), 95 mg cholesterol, 397 mg sodium.
* Note: Don't use the barbecue sauce marinade that the raw chicken was immersed in to baste the chicken pieces as they cook unless you heat it separately first and bring it boil for a full minute. This will kill any possiblel salmonella bacteria from the uncooked poultry.
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