Recipes

Chosen from Barbecue by Chris Schlesinger & John Willoughby, they write "This simple late summer/early autumn barbecue recipe pairs chicken with grilled apples - delicious and easy, but still unusual enough in most cooks' repertoires to seem somewhat exotic."

Serves 4

For the Chicken
    4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
    2 tbsp vegetable ol
    Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

For the Apples
    2 Granny Smith apples, halved through the stem and cored
    1 tbsp vegetable oil
    Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

For the Sultana Vinaigrette
    5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
    4 tsbp sultanas, finely chopped
    2 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped
    1 tsp soft dark brown sugar

Method

Build a multilevel fire in your barbecue or grill. When the coals are all ignited, the fire has died down and the temperature is medium, you're ready to cook.

Rub the chicken breasts with vegetable oil, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and place them skin-side down on the hottest part of the grill. Cook until the skin is very brown and crisp (about 4 minutes); flip them over and cook on the other side for 4 minutes more. To finish, move them to the cooler side of the grill, skin-side down and cover them with an inverted foil tray until they are completely opaque inside but not dried out (10-12 minutes more). To check for doneness, cut into the thickest part of the largest breast and check to be sure it is opaque all the way through with no pinkness near the bone.

While the chicken in sooking, make the vinaigrette: combine the olive oil, vinegar, sultanas, sage and brown sugar in a bowl large enough to hold at least one of the chicken breasts, whisking until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.

As soon as you move the chicken to the cooler side of the grill, rub the apple halves with vegetable oil, sprinkle them generously with salt and pepper and arrange them, cut-side down, beside the chicken. Cook the apples until the cut sides are golden-brown (about 5 minutes).

As the chicken breasts are done, dunk them one at a time in the bowl of vinaigrette, then transfer to a serving plate. Arrange the apples around the chicken, drizzle the remaining vinaigrette over all and serve.