Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt
8 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
Olive oil
Blackberry BBQ Sauce (recipe follows)
Directions:
- In a small bowl, combine the coriander, paprika and salt. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels, season on both sides with the spice mixture, and place in a gallon-size zip-top bag. Refrigerate for several hours but preferably overnight.
- Prepare and preheat your lump charcoal grill to create two heat zones: high and low.
- Brush the chicken thighs with olive oil and place them skin-side down on the hot side of the grill. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the cover and move the chicken to the low-heat side of the grill, skin-side up. Cover and cook until the thighs reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees, about 15 minutes. Pour half the sauce into a medium bowl (reserve the other half for serving) and use it to baste the chicken occasionally during the final 10 minutes of cooking.
- Serve the chicken with the reserved sauce on the side.
Blackberry BBQ Sauce
Note: I love pairing grilled chicken with a fruit-based barbecue sauce. This one has fresh blackberries that add a subtle sweetness to the sauce, balance out the heat of the chiles, and soften the acidity of the vinegars.
Makes 2 quarts
Ingredients:
3 pints fresh blackberries
12-ounces dark beer
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine vinegar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 habanero pepper, slit
1 tablespoon ground chipotle chile powder
1 tablespoon finely ground coffee
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
Directions:
In a large saucepan, combine all the sauce ingredients. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully blend or purée the sauce in a blender or food processor until smooth. Strain the sauce and set aside until needed.
Use immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
— Reprinted from Michael Symon’s Playing With Fire. Copyright © 2018 by Michael Symon. Photographs copyright © 2018 by Ed Anderson. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.