Buttermilk Grilled Chicken

After a spring of cold and snow, it was nice to have Cousin Kathy and Lulu come for a visit and give me an excuse to grill. Not that I need one of course, but they brought the sun down from Madison and I thought we should take advantage of it. I also thought that I could make this a "no touch raw meat" method.

I generally enjoy working out my own ideas, but I found an outstanding base from one of my college roommates, Karl Bechtel. He posted a nice buttermilk recipe that I decided to modify for my palette. This is easily done on a grill but would also work wonderfully inside the oven if you prefer.

Buttermilk Grilled Chicken

2-3lb  Chicken (I used 1/2 and 1/2 breasts and thighs, Karl used a cut up whole chicken)
2c.  buttermilk
2T.  cumin
1T.  sweet paprika (or use any paprika you want really--like smoked Spanish)
1t.  ground chile powder (not chili powder--use arbol, or NM red)
2t.  oregano
2t.  salt
1/2t. onion powder
1/2t. garlic powder
several good grounds of fresh pepper

Wisk together the dry ingredients then mix in the buttermilk. Put the chicken pieces into a sealable bag (either with tongs or just dump them in) and combine the buttermilk mix and chicken together.

Now, be patient. Let this sit in the fridge overnight or up to about 24 hours or so (you really need at least 4-6 hours for the enzymes in the buttermilk to work their magic on the chicken). If you think about it, go into the fridge once or twice, pick up the bag, massage it a bit, flip it over, put it back, grab an adult beverage, come back later.

About half an hour before you are ready to cook, take the bag out of the fridge, set a rack on a cookie sheet liked with paper towel, use tongs to take the chicken out of the bag one piece at a time, and put them on the rack. Let the chicken drain and come up to room temperature (you should always do this before grilling meats). Get your grill ready. Don't overcook. Enjoy.

As with any recipe there are endless variations you could do with this. Perhaps you could try:
- parmesan, garlic, and chives
- greek spices and dill and use part buttermilk and part yogurt

Put this together with a nice cabbage slaw or maybe some potato salad and your taste buds will thank you. I would love to hear if any of you have tried or liked anything similar.
Thanks to Karl for getting me started on this one.