Yes Jan, there’s skin on that chicken. You bet.
It’s still winter, just in case you were wondering. The trees are bare, the sun is going down too early and the days are only warm enough to wear only one sweater outside (I’m in California). Everyone has been spending too darned much time in the house, our little noses are pressed tight to the windows longing for the spring. There’s a few things one can do to lift the spirits. One of which would be to spend a morning at the local Farmer’s market, that helps. Especially if you’re able to pick up a package of Taylor’s Bordelaise sausage and fresh bacon. Another thing one could do is to fire up the grill. I did both and by Saturday afternoon I was feeling a bit better.

Yeah, Saturday was nice. Tiny E and I got to meet up with a fellow food blogger, Charlotte from Love and Cooking
Blog. Eric was there sharpening knives and keeping warm, Jan & Christine were dripping the hot coffee for the masses. Taylor was down there slingin’ the meat.
Anyhoo, I’d picked up a natural chicken the other day and decided to piece it out for grill action.

For the holidays my family in Kansas sent out a love basket with Kansas goodies in them. One of which was Iron Horse Farm -Original- Bar-B-Que sauce. Nice label, eh? I tasted it and it was sweet, spicy and quite good. Still a bit sweet though. So I decided to marinate the chicken in fresh lemon juice, smooshed garlic and Spanish sweet smoked paprika for two hours (on the counter). Since it was a bit chilly outside and moist, I gave myself an extra 30 minutes to get the fire up and going.

Not much to it, really. When your fire is ready, toss on and cook the meat. Towards the end I laid in a few of Taylor’s Bordelaise sausage. Figured this was a good way to cook the sausages, the little buggers can make quite a mess of your fancy gas range, hey.
3/4 through the cooking time on the chicken, start dipping the pieces of chicken IN the sauce, no brushes. Brushes disturb the sauce & herb patina of the chicken. Big NO NO. Dip at least twice, up to maybe 5. Allow sauce to caramelize on que before dipping again.

Here you go, a pile of chicken and the Bordelaise sausage.
Alrighty then, I’ve found a new favorite sausage. In the beginning it was the Toulouse, that was an easy one. Then I ran headlong in to the Boudin Blanc, so nice. But then Taylor throws me a curve and produces these bordelaise sausages. They’re downright amazing, the flavors are bright, the fat isn’t overpowering and the after taste lingers, then dissipates. Not heavy. An award winning recipe right there all rolled up pretty.
For the chicken? The meat was juicy & light, the lemon added some spring. The Spanish paprika was there too, warm & smoky. All in there was the sweet & spicy Que sauce, it wasn’t too much going on. All were there talking with each other, tasty perfection.
I say, if the ice storms don’t keep you in, get out there and fire up the grill, it’ll make you smile.
Xo Xo