Best Barbecued Chicken for summer !

When the weather’s perfect for getting outside in the sun, race don’t run to enjoy the best barbecue recipes we can find. We live in New England, time is short for summer ! I love there is less clean up with pots and pans also. Scrumptious Barbecue chicken is a favorite of mine so we’ll start with that.

The Rules: You must cook BBQ chicken with the grill lid CLOSED to create an oven effect. Preheat the grill to 400 degrees F. Unless you like your chicken charred and burned, you don’t want to add the sauce right away. Drizzle the chicken with olive or canola oil and season with kosher salt and pepper and cook for 4-6 minutes. Baste with your favorite BBQ sauce, (Recipe below to make your own ) flip, and cook for 1.2 minutes more. Repeat on the other side.

***Homemade BBQ sauce:

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. hot sauce

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir until sugar dissolves.

Cook the chicken until the internal temperature is 160 degree F and juices run clear. Adding the BBQ sauce at the end and sear quickly, minimizes the burning.

Vegetable skewers are a great side dish to the chicken that can also be done on the grill. You can use all kind of your favorites. I like to use:

2 zucchini, 2 yellow squash, 2/3 ears of corn, 12 cherry tomatoes, button mushrooms, pineapple chunks, 1 red bell pepper and one medium size vidalia onion. Of course you’ll need 8 wooden skewers, olive oil and seasonings.

Directions:

1. Soak skewers in water for 10/20 minutes
2. Medium heat on grill and lightly oil the grates
3. Thread the zucchini and squash slices along with the mushrooms etc onto the skewers.
4. Whisk olive oil, basil, oregano, salt, pepper in a bowl and brush the mixture over the vegetables. You may add balsamic vinegar and garlic powder as an option also. To your liking.
5. Cook on preheated grill until veggies are tender, turning and basting with olive oil mixture 10/15 minutes.

YUM, Enjoy !!!!