Simply smashing

Here’s how to solve your chicken-grilling problems: Flatten your fowl.

Thanks to barbecue cookbook guru Steven Raichlen and other barbecue innovators, we now have two almost foolproof methods for grilling chicken breasts. Both involve emphasizing the horizontal.

One employs a wooden mallet to flatten a boneless, skinless chicken breast into a Frisbee-thin disk, which is then seared quickly on both sides.

The other involves marinating a chicken breast and grilling it with a brick on top. This flattens out the meat while at the same time keeping the moisture from escaping out the top. The result: A perfectly moist, tender grilled chicken cutlet.

These techniques directly address what has always been the perennial chicken-grilling dilemma: To get the inside cooked, you had to petrify the outside.

The results were almost always unhappy: Either charred, dried-out blocks of hardwood or wet, pink, undercooked sponges.

Both of these methods solve those problems. Yet the pounded-with-a-mallet technique may be the most reliable of all, mainly because the meat doesn’t stay on the grill long enough to dry out.

Here’s how I do it, as adapted from Raichlen’s instructions in “BBQ USA”

Grilled Pounded Chicken Breasts: Get some boneless, skinless chicken breasts (one half per person) and lay each half down on a generous piece of plastic wrap. Cover each piece with another piece of plastic wrap.

Now, take a wooden kitchen mallet and start smacking the chicken breast, beginning in the middle and moving outward. If you don’t have a mallet, I’ve heard of people using the flat side of a cleaver, the rim of a sturdy saucer, or even a rolling pin. The idea is simple: You want to flatten the meat out as much as possible without tearing it. If you must err, err on the side of intact. When done, you’ll have a thin circle of chicken about 1/4-inch thick, and almost the diameter of a dinner plate. The French call it a paillard.

Then you can marinate the meat in various marinades (see recipes below). I have been known to use bottled Italian salad dressing when lazy. Or you can use no marinade at all. The marinades are strictly for flavor, since the meat will already be fully tenderized from all of that pounding.

Now, heat up your grill, using either charcoal or gas. Unlike other methods of grilling chicken, you can use high, direct heat. If using an oil-based marinade, blot most of it off so it doesn’t flare up. If using no marinade, brush lightly with olive oil to prevent sticking. Drape the chicken directly on the grill and cook for about two minutes. It all happens so fast you shouldn’t even leave the grill. Stay with it and keep an eye on it. Then flip each piece over with a spatula or tongs and finish for another two minutes (these times will vary, depending on how hot your fire is). The meat should be so thin that when the outside is cooked, the inside will be, too. No guesswork involved.

The result will be a plate-filling paillard of chicken, with beautiful grill marks, and perfect tenderness.

However, the chicken paillard method may not be ideal for every occasion. Each piece takes about an acre of grill space, so it’s not easy to produce in volume. Also, the chicken is not on the fire long enough to take in much, if any, smoke flavor.

So sometimes you’ll want to break out the construction materials and try:

Grilled Chicken Under a Brick: Start with boneless, skinless chicken breast halves and marinate in the chicken marinade of your choice (see suggestions below).

Prepare either a charcoal or gas fire of high, direct heat. Meanwhile, look around the backyard and find a few bricks left over from your most recent home remodeling disaster. Any old brick will do – the heavier the better. You could probably use a cinder block if your grill is sturdy enough.

Clean the bricks and wrap them with aluminum foil so your chicken won’t get all gritty. Place the chicken breasts directly over the fire and put a brick atop each one. If you have more breasts than bricks, arrange them so that one brick will cover two breast halves.

Cook on one side for four or five minutes, until good grill marks show. Lift up the brick (use an oven mitt), flip the breast over, and put the brick back on top. The brick not only helps the chicken cook faster by pressing it closer to the grill, but it also keeps it juicier by preventing moisture from escaping out the top.

The result should be a moist, snow-white chicken breast, compressed almost to the shape of a chop.

You can even give the brick treatment to whole, bone-in breasts with skins on. The brick won’t compress the breast quite as much, but it will still keep the breast flatter and moister.

The result should be a juicy chicken breast with great grill marks and a browned, crispy skin.

Here are some marinades to try with any of these methods:

Red Chili Marinade

Adapted from “BBQ USA,” by Steven Raichlen

2 tablespoons ground New Mexico red pepper

2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Combine the red pepper, salt, cumin, coriander, black pepper and cinnamon and rub the mixture on the chicken breasts. Drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil over the chicken breasts, sprinkle with the garlic and cilantro, patting into the chicken. Pour the lime juice and remaining olive oil over the chicken, turning to coat both sides. Marinate 30 minutes to one hour in the refrigerator. This marinade is particularly good with the brick method.

Tarragon-Mustard Marinade

Adapted from “BBQ USA” by Steven Raichlen

1 clove garlic, minced

½ teaspoon coarse salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (or Tabasco sauce)

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Place the garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper in a bowl and mash to a paste with the back of a wooden spoon. Add the mustard, chopped tarragon and the lemon juice and vinegar. Whisk to mix. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Pour about half of this mixture over the chicken breasts and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Save the other half and use it as a salad dressing. This recipe is particularly good with the pounded chicken breasts.