It's summer, maybe not officially, but the heat tells me that summer is here.  At least in Louisiana, which means one thing.  Lots of grilling to be had!  And you are going to want to make my charred spicy BBQ grilled chicken with parmesan thyme potato wedges all summer long!

Sometimes I have no idea why we grill in the summer more because it is hot as balls (excuse my French), but seriously it's 4,000 degrees outside and we decide it's a great idea to go and stand by a lit fire and grill some stuff...brilliant.  But it just tastes so good that we have to!  It just goes with summer, sweat and all, you just have to grab a cold beer, and get to grilling. 

Canean and I love BBQ almost as much as we love each other, and making BBQ at home is one of my favorite summer spreads.  The key to good BBQ chicken is to slow cook it and add a little char at the end in my opinion.  There is nothing better than crispy skin smothered in your favorite sauce..yum!

This sauce is an old faithful that I go to out of my Southern Living cookbook.  It's so good that I have never tampered with it too much, just a few minor adjustments.  It's sweet and spicy and dark in color and is just delicious!  The potatoes are the perfect side and you might even want to dip them into the BBQ sauce..get crazy with it!  This is your BBQ after all.

Ingredients:

• 1 Whole Chicken, or Bone-In Breasts

• Salt and Pepper

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

BBQ Sauce:

• 1 Cup Water

• 3/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

• 3/4 Cup Ketchup

• 1/2 Cup White Vinegar

• 1/2 Cup Worcestershire sauce

• 1 Tbsp. Butter (original recipe calls for 1/2 Cup, but I reduced it)

• 1/4 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice

• 1 Tbsp. Salt

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. Dry Mustard

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. Chili Powder

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. Smoked Paprika (original recipe calls for regular, but I like the smoke addition)

• 2 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper

Parmesan and Thyme Potato Wedges:

• 1 Lb. Red Potatoes

• 1/4 Grated Parmesan

• 4 Thyme Sprigs

• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

-Add all BBQ sauce ingredients into a pan and simmer for about an hour and reduce down until thickened.

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

-In the meantime if you are using a whole chicken, cut the backbone out of the chicken and cut into two halves.  Rub with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken.

-Preheat grill to medium high heat.  Reduce heat to low and add the chicken to the top rack of the grill, put lid down and let cook for about 15 minutes on each side, and do this one more time.  The chicken should take around 45 minutes but double check to make sure chicken is not pink.  About ten minutes before the chicken is done place onto bottom rack of the grill.  Brush with BBQ sauce and char both sides of the chicken to create a good crispy skin.  You can baste several times before taking the chicken off of the grill.  Drizzle with more BBQ sauce after chicken is done.

-While your chicken is cooking, slice your potatoes into wedges.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, add 2 sprigs of thyme (only use the leaves not the stems).  Bake in the oven about 35-45 minutes until golden brown.  The last minute remove potatoes, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Place back into the oven until cheese melts and creates a little crust.  Sprinkle with fresh thyme for garnish.

I know that the color is really dark on the chicken, but it was so moist on the inside and Canean and I both had BBQ sauce all over our hands and face when we were done, which is a great sign of good BBQ.

Of course if you don't like as much char on your chicken, just don't crisp it as much!  It's as easy as that.

So even though it's scorching outside, light up the grill, make some BBQ, and embrace the summer...heat and all!  At least you will be eating something delicious while you're at it!