Grilled Mexican Roadside Chicken
I came into this with high hopes. I have been infatuated with how tasty it looked. I kept counting down the days until Wednesday to give it a try. I found this recipe last week for Grilled Mexican Roadside Chicken, and it looks delicious and sounded interesting. So I whipped it up today per the recipe, but in lieu of a whole chicken used several drumsticks I had in the freezer, same concept.
And I have to say it was not bad chicken, but it wasn’t chicken that left me wanting more either. It let me down. It was juicy, but I attribute that more to technique than the recipe. I had high hopes for it and it just fell short, flat on its face at my feet, I was disappointed but when piled onto of a salad with some taco-ranch dressing it was almost just like any other chicken, but perhaps with just a hair more Mexican flavor and eaten that way it was quite alright. So here is a copy of the recipe should you wish to try it. I did use half the amount of cinnamon because that was all I had around.
Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp ground ancho chile pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
pinch of ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 garlic cloves pressed
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 c fresh orange juice
1 tsp Kosher salt
chicken (parts or a whole)
Instructions
If using a charcoal grill, get some charcoal going in a chimney (I used half a chimney full). Mix all ingredients except chicken together in a bowl to create a wet rub. Once the charcoal is ready place all of the coals on one side of the grill to set up a cool zone and a hot zone. Place the chicken on the cool side of the grill, brush healthily with the wet rub. Turn chicken and brush the other side with the wet rub. Cover the grill and cook until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads 165°F; basting with any remaining rub throughout the cooking period. Remove chicken from grill and allow to rest for a while 5-10 minutes for parts or 10 to 15 minutes for a whole chicken.
The original recipe called for green onions to be grilled once the chicken was done, maybe this is where I went astray. It also called for a whole chicken and not for parts, maybe that was the problem. Either way it wasn’t bad, but like I said it let me down, it wasn’t all I had hoped for and the process of making the rub filled my kitchen with a heavenly familiar aroma of Jerk Chicken and made me think, why am I not making Jerk Chicken? Well I may just have to do that soon.