Citrus-Gin Marinated Chicken

Okay, so I'm on a bit of a citrus kick lately, but bear with me, people. It's summer! The lighter, brighter flavors of citrus are so refreshing after a long, hot day, and citrus has a way of highlighting the fresh fruits and vegetables you can pick up in the summer months.

This marinade will work well with any chicken pieces -- if you prefer dark meat, go for thighs and drumsticks, they'll soak up the flavor just was well, and will stay juicier on the grill. Shrimp will work well too, but cut down on the marinading time.


1 package of chicken pieces (just trimmed of visible fat of you're grilling whole, or trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes if you're in the mood for kabobs)
Juice and zest of one large orange
Juice and zest of two medium limes
6 tbsp gin
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
2 1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp oregano
Pinch of thyme
1 thinly-sliced jalapeño
2 large onions (thinly sliced if cooking the chicken whole; cut into bite-sized chunks for kabobs)

• Rinse the chicken and place all pieces in a large plastic storage bag or non-reactive (stainless steel or glass) bowl, along with all ingredients EXCEPT for the onions.
  
• Marinade the chicken mixture in the refrigerator at least 2 (but up to 8) hours.
  
• If kabobbing with wooden skewers, soak the skewers during the last half hour of marinading, then spear alternating chicken pieces and onion chunks, taking care not to crowd the pieces
  
• Heat grill (or grillpan) to medium
  
• Grill the chicken, reserving the marinade, about 7 minutes on each side (4-5 for kabobs), or until the center is no longer pink and juices run clear
• Save a little space on the grill for a small pot or saucepan. Pour the remaining marinade in, turn the heat on that part of the grill to high, and bring it to a boil. You should allow the marinade to boil for several minutes before even THINKING about using it as a post-cooking sauce! In fact, you should even brush the marinade back onto the meat after the first couple of minutes of cooking, because that won't allow enough time to bring it up to high enough temperature to kill any bacteria. Scary thought. Be careful, this really isn't something you want to mess around with.
• If you've cooked the chicken pieces whole, then you still have sliced onions left at this point. Into the saucepan they go, to soften and soak up some of that delicious marinade. Let them cook at least as long as the chicken. You can even leave them on a little longer, to caramelize and be even more flavorful. Serve the onions over the chicken.
  

If you're freezing:

• Place the chicken and the marinade in separate bags, then pack both of those into one larger bag. Don't pour the marinade directly over the chicken before freezing.
  
• The day of cooking, allow the chicken to defrost most of the way before adding the marinade.