playing with fire

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a happy Father's Day — we sure did! Like any good family gathering, I volunteered to cook. Big surprise, right? Plus, my dad loves when I cook so I thought of it as an extra little Father's Day gift and a way to thank him for being the most incredible dad a girl could ask for.

I love utilizing the grill when I cook at my parents since I don't have one at my apartment, so something grilled was my first thought. I had attempted chicken under a brick and panzanella almost two years ago when Rob first came back from his job training. I loved it and hadn't made it since then and it sounded perfect, not to mention impressive, for a dad's day celebration!

Everything started off wonderful! My chicken had been marinating for hours, my panzanella (recipe coming later this week!) was all chopped, bread was toasted and asparagus trimmed. All that was left to do was cook the chicken, so we threw it on the grill and topped it with the pre-heated and foil-wrapped bricks. Easy enough, right? Wrong.

About 8 minutes into it, we looked outside and realized there was a lot of smoke coming out of the grill. I mean, a TON. The chicken was literally on fire. Looking back on it now, it was sorta funny, but I was freaking out at the time. My dad ran outside, removed the bricks and ripped the chickens off the grill while flames shot up all around him. Fortunately no one got burned. Turns out whole chickens are a LOT greasier than a chicken breast (duh.) and had spurred the wildfire. (check out these awesome action shots!)

We let the grease burn off for a bit, drained the extra oil that had accumulated and tried it again. Better luck this time. After flipping the chicken it still hadn't flamed up, so we decided to put the bricks back on. Bad idea. The pressure must have squeezed the oils out of the chicken, causing more flames. Our grill was also really hot, despite being on the lowest setting. There's just not much you can do when it's already 103 degrees outside! We forgot about the bricks and just grilled the chicken. It turned out beautifully — definitely a little crispy in some spots, but hey, a little char never killed anyone, right?

So, moral of the story, if you decide to cook chicken under a brick, try it on a charcoal grill where the heat isn't as intense or just ditch the bricks altogether and you should be good. But be careful anyway, because the oil accumulates on the chicken and falls into the flame when you turn it over.

The rest of the dinner ran smoothly and it all tasted so delicious. We cleansed our palettes with a scoop of raspberry and strawberry sorbet for dessert along with the last few sips of wine. Ah, pefection!

I hope your Father's Day was as memorable as ours!

Butterflied Grilled Chicken, serves 8

• 2 chickens, butterflied, ask your butcher to do this for you!
• 2 Tbsp garlic
• 2 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients from garlic through olive oil until combined. Pour over the butterflied chickens. Let marinate for at least two hours or up to 8. Preheat your grill for 20 minutes prior to cooking. Place chicken, skin side down on the grill. Cook for 20 minutes. Flip, carefully as grease may have accumulated on the top. Grill for another 20-30 minutes or until internal temperature reads 165 degrees at the thickest part of the thigh.

Remove from grill and let rest for 10 minutes. Cut into pieces and serve hot!