Grilled Chicken with Creamy Grits & Shiitake Sauce

mmm, just the right amount of char

Yesterday I officially kicked off grilling season at our house. My husband knew I was making chicken (he saw it marinating in the fridge), but I loved the surprised look on his face when he came home and I said "Dinner's almost ready, I just have to go outside and get it off the grill." He was one happy camper.

This recipe is terrific. The grits are creamy. The shiitake sauce is rich and so flavorful. The chicken is juicy and the grilling makes the skin a bit charred and wonderfully crispy.

GRILLED CHICKEN WITH CREAMY GRITS 
& SHIITAKE MUSHROOM SAUCE

Serves 2 to 3

Chicken:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

2 to 3 lbs. bone-in chicken pieces (breasts, thighs or legs)

Sauce:  

1 cup beef stock or canned beef broth

1 cup chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth

1/2 cup dry white wine

3 oz. thinly sliced pancetta, chopped (about 3/4 cup)

8 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced (about 3 cups)

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon roughly chopped sage leaves

Creamy Grits:

1 1/2 cups chicken stock (or canned low-salt chicken broth)

1/2 cup heavy cream or half-n-half

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup quick-cooking grits

Marinate chicken:

Mix oil, garlic and rosemary in a glass baking dish (large enough to hold all the chicken in a single layer). Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add to oil mixture; turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate chicken at least 4 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

Make sauce:

1.     Boil both stocks and wine in heavy medium saucepan until reduced to 1 cup, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

2.     Cook pancetta in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp and golden, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to bowl. Add mushrooms to same skillet and saute until golden, about 4 minutes. Add stock mixture and cream to skillet and simmer until reduced to sauce consistency, about 5 minutes. Mix in pancetta and sage.

Grill chicken:

Meanwhile, preheat the grill (medium-high heat). Remove chicken from marinade. Grill until cooked through, turning occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Make grits:

Bring stock, cream and butter to simmer in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Gradually whisk in grits. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until grits are creamy and tender, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve:

Spoon grits onto plates. Place chicken atop grits. Spoon sauce over and serve.

slightly adapted from Café Thirty-A (Seagrove Beach, FL)

chopped rosemary

chicken marinating

I probably would have preferred chicken thighs or breasts
(or a mix), but the only organic chicken at the store was legs.

stocks and wine reducing (for the sauce)

pancetta cooking

shiitake mushrooms cooking

stock mixture and cream added to mushrooms

sage

shiitake sauce reduced and ready

chicken just placed on the grill

I brushed off some of the garlic and rosemary, but left some
behind (because I kind of like the taste of them charred).
If you don't want that, just brush it all off before you grill the chicken.

grits

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