Grilled Farmer’s Market Chicken With Lemon Ginger Basting Sauce

We picked up some chickens from the farmer’s market recently, and they were delicious!! So very clean tasting and flavorful. I always prefer my meat direct from a farm because it is so much fresher. They aren’t melt in your mouth tender, but they shouldn’t be. After all, these chickens walk and run.

I chose the smallest one they had at 5.2 lbs. I cut the backbone out and broke the breast to “butterfly” it of sorts and therefore have it cook quicker. It cooked so quick – I don’t know if it was because it was so darn fresh or what – but it only took about 35 minutes on the grill at 425 degrees, direct heat.  I wanted to get a lot of flavor out of this, and thought featuring ginger would be the perfect complement:

GRILLED CHICKEN WITH SAGE AND GARLIC AND LEMON GINGER BASTING SAUCE – serves 6

One 5.2 lb chicken, washed, thoroughly dried with backbone cut out and breast flattened with your hand
4 full stems of fresh sage
4 larges cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
Fine sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

Stuff one stem of sage and one clove of garlic, sliced, under the skin in each of the breasts and thigh sections. Salt and pepper your birds all over on both sides. Spray your grill with oil. Grill at 425 degrees basting with the Lemon Ginger sauce, turning twice, until your instant read thermometer registers at 155 degrees. Let it rest for 10 – 15 minutes before carving.

LEMON/GINGER BASTING SAUCE

1.5 tbs. unsalted butter
1 tbs olive oil
1 bay leaf
5 tbs. finely minced onion
4 tbs. minced ginger
6 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tbs. Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp. light brown sugar
1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
10 grinds of black pepper
¾ tsp. Sriracha sauce
3 tbs. water

In a small saucepan, melt the butter in olive oil over low heat. Add bay leaf, ginger and onion, cover and sweat for 10 – 15 minutes. Check often, stir and do not let it brown, but you want it to be meltingly soft. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the water, stirring well. Raise heat to medium-high and whisk in water. Stir until mixture boils and then remove from heat. This can be made a couple of hours before you’re going to use it. Keep it at room temperature.

Remember to always cook with love and your food will taste better! For more recipes like this, visit my blog LOVE- the secret ingredient.