Canada’s birthday is always a great reason to fire up the grill and we’re pretty sure chicken will feature prominently at a lot of meals this weekend. While definitely delicious as is, chicken also appreciates a flavour boost once in awhile. Here are some of our favourites.
Dry rubs are the quickest way to add flavour. Dried herbs, spices, salt, and sometimes other dry ingredients, are combined and rubbed on the chicken right before grilling. Look for ready-to-use dry rubs in the spice section of most stores, or try one of these.
Mocha Java Dry Rub
Cocoa, coffee and chili powder are the main ingredients in this savoury rub. Your choice of coffee will change the flavour – we like the smokey sweet roasts like Italian or Espresso. If you need an extra kick of heat, add a little smoked chili powder or a pinch of cayenne. This is tasty on any cut of chicken.
Sweet n Smokey Paprika Dry Rub
Made with sweet paprika and smoked paprika, this rub gives a nice little boost to the smokey flavours you get from grilling. Use it on skinless or skin on chicken pieces.
Barbecue sauces are another great way to add flavour. Because they typically contain a sweet ingredient (sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup) that burns quickly, barbecue sauces are used when the chicken is close to being fully cooked. Brush on the sauce a couple of times in the last 10-15 minutes of cooking. A little bit of extra sauce (that hasn’t touched raw chicken) is always nice as a dipping sauce.
Chili Cherry Barbecue Sauce
When the ingredients include dried cherries, cherry cola, chili sauce and Port, you know this sauce will be sweet and spicy, and unlike any other bbq sauce you’ve tried. Make ahead and keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or frozen for 3 months. Slather it on chicken legs or a whole bird.
If you have a bit more time consider using a marinade as a flavour boost. Chicken can be marinated for as little as 30 minutes or as long as 24 hours. You can even marinate chicken while it’s in the freezer. Lots of the Manitoba Chicken recipes include a mararinating step, but, because it’s Canada Day, we just had to feature this one.
The name says it all. And it’s delicious with white or dark meat.
