Grilled herb marinated chicken

Our summer seems to be continuing on and so many excuses for dinner on the deck, last week is was feeding friends and family that just accomplished a good hike in the local mountains. 

I said that I would have dinner waiting for them for when they got back. I decided barbecued chicken legs would make a good main course.  I have a lot of fresh herbs on my deck, so it seemed a good idea to marinate them in a herb and wine marinade, almost like a pesto.

I gathered a bunch of basil, sage and rosemary then wizzed them in the mini food processor.  You could just finely chop them but this is way easier.

Marinade

One bunch of basil
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 sprigs of fresh sage
2 cloves of garlic cut into quarters
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 cup of white wine
salt and pepper

Grilled chicken marinated in yogurt

Marinating chicken breasts in yogurt helps keep them moist, and when you are cooking with skinless boneless chicken breasts you have to take all the help you can get to keep them from being dry. Since my husband is away for a week back east, I was cooking for myself and was trying to keep it lean, and so I bought two free range chicken breasts and had one for dinner and put the other in the freezer in the marinade for later.

I wanted to add some flavour as well as moistness so I used some garlic and herbs de provance.

For two chicken breasts.

2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of herb de provence (or any other herbs you have on hand)
1 teaspoon of course salt
1/2 cup of plain yogurt
2 chicken breasts.

Combine the garlic, herbs and salt in a pestle and mortar or mini chopper.

Grind up to create a flavour paste.

Herb vinegar

My herbs on the deck are now in their full glory and what a joy it is cook with abundant fresh herbs.  However I was trying to think of ways to preserve some of their flavour for the winter when the pickings are thin.

Also I just finished some tarragon vinegar which I had brought from Valentine Farm in Summerland a small vinegar works that uses Okanagan grapes to make their vinegar and infuse with home grown herbs and fruit.  So I had a beautiful bottle with a stopper to make my own herb vinegar. After reflecting on what herbs I wanted to use, I chose sage and basil.