Fabulicious!: On the Grill by Teresa Giudice Page A

always give lamb a “vinegar wash” before cooking with it to help remove the gamey flavor of farm-raised sheep and to kill any surface bacteria. It’s not necessary for those reasons in America today, but we still do it in my house for the flavor.
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CHAPTER 6

Pollo (Chicken)

    When Italians want to say they know what’s going on or what’s really up (especially when it comes to their children), they say, conosco i miei polli ; literally, “I know my chickens.”
    W hile it’s great to grill big, juicy steaks on the grill, one reason why the Mediterranean diet is healthy is because we don’t eat a lot of red meat in Italy. Chicken is our main source of protein, because it’s inexpensive and plentiful. In fact, the ancient Romans were believed to be the first Europeans to breed poultry. Today there are more than twenty different breeds raised around Italy.
    Chicken does get a bad rap for tending to dry out on the grill, but there are a few things you can do to keep this from happening. You can choose juicier cuts of the chicken, like the thighs; you can cook with the bones in (this is true for all types of meat); or you can just not cook the hell out of it!
    People get spooked about chicken being raw on the inside, but heating it to a safe temperature doesn’t mean you have to cook it until it’s bone-dry. Even the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) website recommends using a meat thermometer not only to make sure you’ve cooked everything to the safe internal temperature, but also “to avoid overcooking” and ruining the flavor of your meal.

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    USDA Recommended Safe Minimum
Internal Temperatures:
    Beef, Pork, Lamb, Veal steaks, chops and roasts = 145°F
    All other cuts of Beef, Pork, Lamb, Veal = 160°F
    All Chicken = 165°F
    The USDA’s temperatures may be slightly higher than what you prefer. On most meat thermometers, 145° to 160°F is indicated as within the mediumwell to well-done range. A lot of chefs instead follow the “traditional” temperatures for doneness. Here they are, as well:
    Traditional (Chef) Internal Red Meat Temperatures:
    120°F to 130°F = rare
    130°F to 135°F = medium-rare
    135°F to 145°F = medium
    145°F to 150°F = medium-well
    150°F to 160°F = well-done
    While chicken has a higher internal temperature requirement than other meats, that doesn’t mean you have to cook it forever. In some chicken, like that from older birds, the juices won’t run clear until after it’s been overcooked, so the only real way to tell you have cooked your chicken correctly is to use a meat thermometer. And then you have to trust it! We’ve all heard the scary stories about food poisoning, but at 165°F, you’re safe. The former Under Secretary for Food Safety, Dr. Richard Raymond, states that at 165°F “consumers can be confident that pathogens and viruses will be destroyed.” Getting chicken to that temperature generally takes less than ten minutes on each side with direct cooking. You can also cook chicken over indirect heat just fine—if you want it to look a little browner, you can always move it over a lit burner at the very end.
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P OUND A WAY
    One of the secrets to juicy boneless chicken breasts is to pound the fillets to an even thickness before cooking them. Put each piece of chicken, one at a time, between two sheets of plastic wrap and lightly pound them using a flat mallet, meat pounder, or a rolling pin until they are about half an inch thick. Notice that I said lightly pound. This is not the time to take out your aggression, as chicken is actually more easily torn than steak. And only use a flat pounder—not one of those mean, pointy metal hammers—or else you’ll wreck your meal before it’s started.
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    * * *     Wise Chickens     * * *
    C hicken is a popular subject