Grilled chicken with Alabama white sauce
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In the Midwest, barbecue sauce is red. But in Decatur, Ala., white sauce rules. Barbecue lore offers this nugget: In 1925, a 6-foot-4-inch, 300-pound railroad worker-turned-pitmaster named Big Bob Gibson from Decatur, began using a rather thin vinegar-mayonnaise sauce flecked with black pepper to marinate his chicken. Today his offspring carries on the white sauce tradition at Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q restaurants. According to the restaurant’s Web site, www.bigbobgibsonbbq.com, whole chickens are split, seasoned and laid open on the hickory-smoke pit to cook at 350 degrees for 3 1/2 hours. Just before serving, the birds get a dip in a vat of white sauce. “I thought it would have a more mayonnaise-y accent, but the first thing I think of is vinegary, says Ardie Davis, a Kansas City-based barbecue sauce expert and the author of The Great BBQ Sauce Book (Ten Speed Press). “It’s also good on pork because it complements the natural sweetness of the meat. What I regret is in Kansas City you just can’t go to the store and buy it.” Order a case of Big Bob’s White Sauce off the Internet and it will set you back $30, plus shipping and handling. But if you’re not sure you’re ready to wholesale switch from red to white, The Star’s recipe for Grilled Chicken With Alabama White Sauce let s you make a homemade version — one that will also save on fat and calories. Anyone looking for balance in their diet knows mayonnaise is not a condiment you want to overdo: 1 tablespoon has 103 calories and almost 12 grams of fat versus a reduced-fat version, which has about 49 calories and less than 5 grams of fat, according to the USDA National Nutrient Database. Not a fan of reduced-fat mayo? In this case it’s really just a creamy vehicle for the more predominant twang of cider vinegar. In recent years, several recipes for Big Bob Gibson’s White Sauce have been published. One that appears on the Food Network Web site ( www.foodnetwork.com) includes horseradish and cayenne. Our version moves the heat to the meat, applying a dry rub that includes chili powder and paprika, and instead of slow cooking a whole bird, we opted for boneless, skinless chicken breast on the grill, which cuts down on cooking time, as well as reducing portion size and total amount of fat. Cooking tip: If your chicken breasts are larger than a deck of cards (3 to 4 ounces), trim to the appropriate size. Pump it up: For added nutrition, serve wilted collard greens, Swiss chard or spinach. If you have leftover white sauce, use it as a dressing for coleslaw. Grilled Chicken with Alabama White Sauce 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder Sauce Combine garlic powder, paprika, chili powder and a dash of salt. Rinse chicken breasts and pat dry; rub seasoning mixture evenly over both sides of chicken. Preheat grill or allow coals to burn down to white ash. Grill chicken 9 to 12 minutes, until fully cooked and meat thermometer registers 170 degrees, turning midway through cooking. For sauce, combine remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth. Serve sauce spooned over grilled chicken or serve as a dipping sauce.
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