Cassie’s Ruminations

Citrus Grilled Chicken (revisited)

About a month ago I made this citrus grilled chicken. Tonight I made a couple tweaks – adding cumin and replacing the food coloring with turmeric, which added some flavor as well as keeping the distinct yellow color. I’m quite happy with it now. It still isn’t El Pollo Loco, but it’s very good in its own right. I served this with corn tortillas, chili beans, and homemade guacamole.

Citrus Grilled Chicken
Serves 8

For the marinade:
6 ounces (1 small can) pineapple juice
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 large cloves garlic, pressed
½ tsp salt
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp ground pepper
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 teaspoon minced mild chili pepper (I used a Hatch)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

For the rest:
4 pounds chicken thighs (with skin and bone)

Remove stem and seeds from chile and finely mince about a teaspoon. Save the remainder of the chile whole to throw on the grill with the chicken.

In large zip top bag, combine all ingredients except chicken. Reserve ¼ cup of the marinade in a separate container for basting while grilling.

Place chicken in the bag, seal, pressing all of the air out, and squish around to coat the chicken well. Refrigerate overnight, turning once. Also refrigerate the reserved marinade.

Remove chicken from refrigerator 45 minutes before you’d like to start grilling and preheat the grill to medium heat. Drain chicken well. Turn the grill to low heat. Starting skin side up, grill over low heat for 12-15 minutes, until the skin starts to look dry and the chicken is firm. Turn the chicken skin side down and cook for another 12-15 minutes, when juices are pooling in the hollows of the chicken pieces. Turn again (skin side up again) and cook until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F. Turn once more skin side down, increase the heat to medium and cook for a final 5-10 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F and the skin is crisp and browned. Baste frequently with the reserved marinade for the last two stages of cooking. Keep a close eye on the chicken as it cooks and put out any flare-ups immediately to avoid burning the meat.

Serve with beans and corn tortillas.