Best Grilled Chicken With Harissa Recipes

GRILLED CHICKEN WITH HARISSA

Steps:

• Light the grill: Place a chimney starter on the grate of a charcoal grill. Add newspaper in the bottom, then fill with charcoal. Light the newspaper, which will light the charcoal. Allow charcoal to burn for 30-45 minutes; when the charcoal is mature with ashed-over gray embers, remove the chimney and spread the charcoal around the bottom of the grill. Place the grill plate on top (the coals will be very hot, so use oven mitts).
• Harissa paste: In a cast-iron skillet, toast caraway, cumin, coriander, oregano and sesame seeds over medium heat until they're aromatic, stirring occasionally, 1-1½ minutes. Place the toasted spices in a mortar. In the same skillet, toast the peppers over medium heat until they begin to "balloon up," 3-4 minutes. Cut off the stem ends of the chiles and remove the seeds by tapping them out. Tear the chiles into strips and place in a bowl. Cover with hot water, and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, add the peeled garlic and salt to the spice mixture and use the pestle to grind everything together. Stir in the Espelette pepper, followed by the tomato paste. Drain the chiles, squeezing out the water; roughly chop and add to the mortar bowl. Pound and grind until the paste is thick and chunky. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, enough to just saturate the paste. Add more salt to taste, and a few grinds of black pepper; stir a bit more to combine. Set aside.
• Prepare the chicken for grilling: Place the chicken on a rimmed baking sheet fitted with a rack. Tuck the wings back on themselves, then use poultry scissors to cut out the backbone; discard or reserve to make stock. Turn the chicken over, skin side up, and smash the keel bone (breastbone) of the chicken to flatten it out. Flip the chicken skin side down and make a small incision on the top of each inner thigh, which will help the heat penetrate. Dry the chicken thoroughly, then apply the harissa paste on both sides, finishing with the chicken skin side down. Place first skewer through the chicken, beginning at the top part of the thigh, through the bone in the middle of the chicken, to the top part of the breast, finishing just below the wing. Repeat on the other side. (It's important the skewers are fitted below the bone, so they stay in place during grilling.) Refrigerate uncovered, 3 hours to overnight.
• Make the garlic confit/butter mop: For the garlic confit, preheat oven to 300 degrees F. In a small saucepan add the garlic cloves, olive oil, lemon peel, and bay leaf, making sure garlic is submerged. Cover and bake until the garlic is tender and golden, 1-1½ hours. For the butter mop, in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, add half of the garlic confit, breaking up the garlic. (The remainder of the confit will last in a jar, refrigerated, for up to two weeks.) Let it sizzle, 2-3 minutes. Add the vinegar and cook until it's dry and the mixture becomes a thick paste. Add butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, whisking with each addition. Bring the butter to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Whisk in the mustard and a few grinds of black pepper, then set aside until it's time to baste the chicken. (Note: Butter mop can be made a day ahead. Store, covered, at room temperature.)
• Grill the chicken: Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Move the pre-heated coals to one side of the grill, then place two bricks on the grate, long side down. Rest the skewers on the bricks so that the chicken is suspended above, but not touching, the grill. This method of indirect cooking will yield a tender, juicy, evenly cooked chicken. Cover and cook 45 minutes, basting with butter mop every 10 minutes.
• Finish the chicken: Chicken is done when a thermometer reads 165 F. Alternatively, wiggle the leg; if there is a slight give, the chicken is done. Let rest for several minutes on a cutting board.While chicken is resting, grill lemon halves, cut side down, on the hottest part of the grill. Put greens in a large mixing bowl. Once chicken has rested and the lemons are nicely caramelized, quarter the chicken and cut the breast portions in half. Remove to a serving platter. Squeeze juice from lemon halves directly onto the drippings on the cutting board. Add olive oil and drizzle vinegar on top of the lemon juice to make "Cutting Board Vinaigrette." With a knife or spoon, scrape vinaigrette from the board onto the greens. Toss and serve with the chicken.

GRILLED HARISSA CHICKEN THIGHS

Steps:

• Combine harissa spice blend, lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic in a small bowl. Rub spice mixture over chicken thighs, including under the skin. Refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours. Remove from refrigerator 20 minutes before grilling.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil grate.
• Place chicken thighs on the hot grill, skin side down, and grill for 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the chicken over and grill on the other side for 3 to 4 minutes. Continue flipping every 3 to 4 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF, about 20 to 25 minutes total. Remove chicken to a plate and cover with foil; let rest for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine harissa seasoning, honey, and melted butter for glaze in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until mixture is heated through and has a thinned consistency, about 10 seconds. Drizzle over chicken and serve.

GRILLED HARISSA CHICKEN BREASTS WITH HERBED COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Combine the garlic, paprika, onion powder, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and stir.
• Put the chicken breast in a large resealable plastic bag, then add the spice blend. Seal the bag and massage to coat the chicken with the seasoning. If time allows, let marinate for a few minutes at room temperature or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
• When ready to grill, preheat one side of the grill to high, leaving the other side cool to create indirect heating.
• Pour the olive oil into the resealable bag and massage to coat the chicken. Remove the chicken from bag, and place on the hot side of the grill. Grill, undisturbed, until you get char marks, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the chicken a quarter turn and grill, undisturbed, to achieve a crosshatch sear mark, about 2 minutes. Flip and repeat the process on the other side.
• Once you have great char on both sides, baste the chicken with a generous amount of the harissa and move the chicken to the cool side of the grill. Close the lid and cook the chicken, checking every 2 to 3 minutes for an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken from the grill and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Slice on the bias and serve with the herbed couscous.
• Heat the butter in a lidded medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
• Add the onions and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic. Add the chicken stock, stir and bring to boil. Add the couscous and stir.
• Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in the herbs. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

YOGURT MARINATED GRILLED CHICKEN WITH HARISSA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, ginger, cumin, chile flakes and salt. Whisk until smooth and pour into a baking dish. Lay the chicken halves, skin-side up, in the yogurt mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple of hours to marinate.
• Preheat a very clean grill to medium. When the grill is hot, brush with the oil.
• Remove the chicken from the yogurt, leaving any excess behind, and lay them out on the grill, skin-side down. Cook until the skin is brown and crispy, and then flip. You want to roast them, essentially, on the grill, and avoid "flaming" them or cooking them over too intense heat. That would dry them out. Grill the chicken until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thigh registers between 155 degrees F and 160 degrees F, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Remove the chicken from the grill to a cutting board. Cut into small pieces or serve whole, family style. Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with lemon juice. Top with some of the Harissa and serve immediately.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, combine the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and caraway seeds. Add the spices to a sheet tray and toast in the oven for 1 to 2 minutes; you should faintly detect the scent of the spices. Remove the tray from the oven and set aside to cool. Add the paprika and chile flakes to the spice mix.
• Using a mortar and pestle (or, alternatively, a food processor), grind the garlic cloves until they become a paste, and then add the red bell pepper. Season with salt, and then add the spices and the 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and blend well. When blended, transfer the harissa to a container and top with some additional olive oil. This will keep for 3 to 6 weeks, covered, in the refrigerator.

HARISSA MARINATED GRILLED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Put the red peppers on the grill and char them until they are black on all sides. Put the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. When cool enough to handle, scrape the charred black skin off the peppers and remove the stem and seeds. Coarsely chop and reserve. This can totally be done ahead.
• Put the cumin, coriander, fennel and caraway in a dry saute pan and toast them until they become very aromatic. Grind all the spices into a coarse powder in a spice grinder.
• Coarsely chop the dried chiles, toss them into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to pulverize. Add the toasted ground spices, the roasted red peppers, chopped garlic and tomato paste. Puree until the mixture is smooth. Add 1/4 cup of the olive oil and pulse to combine. Add in another 1/4 cup of olive oil and pulse again. Season with salt, to taste, if needed. Store in an airtight container.
• Toss the chicken parts liberally with the harissa and let sit at room temperature up to 2 hours, or overnight or even a few days in the refrigerator.
• Preheat the grill to medium.
• Put the chicken on the grill and grill for 8 to 10 minutes on each side. You may have to move the chicken around, or flip it over a couple of times to prevent burning. You may also want to brush it a couple times with the leftover harissa, just remember it is pretty spicy! Remove the chicken from the grill and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.