BBQ Chicken and Yogurt Potato Salad

I'm finally posting my super-amazing BBQ chicken "recipe." It starts with a marinade that I then boil down to make a sauce. A stroke of pure genius had me serving it with my yogurt potato salad and some broccoli that I roasted on the grill (just drizzle some olive oil over some broccoli and add some smashed garlic cloves, enclose in a foil pouch and ignore on the grill while the chicken cooks... and don't forget to squeeze half a lemon on it before serving like I did!).

Sorry the picture isn't so great... I forgot to snap one while the food was still in the kitchen where the good lighting is.

BBQ Chicken
Marinade/Sauce
Apple cider vinegar
Molasses
Brown sugar
Ketchup
Soy Sauce
Crushed red pepper flakes
Black peppercorns
Garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
Onion powder

Put these things into a very large ziploc bag and mix well. The proportions are up to you. I use about 4 cups of vinegar as the base. This is a tangy NC-inspired marinade/sauce. I also use quite a lot of the red pepper flakes so it's pretty spicy.

Once you've got the chicken on the grill, pour the leftover marinade into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer it for a while, then strain it into a serving apparatus (I like using a squeeze bottle).

Chicken
A bunch of chicken, with bones and skin (I did a "Family Pack" of 4 drumsticks and 2 breasts)
Marinade from above
About 1 C applewood chips, soaked for 15 minutes

Marinate the chicken for at least 4 hours, letting it come to room temperature for no more than 2 hours before grilling. Get your grill going at a nice low steady heat. Put the applewood chips in a little foil bowl and stick that on the coals. If you have a gas grill, I don't know what you are supposed to do with wood chips, sorry. Wait a few minutes until the wood chips start to smoke. Pull the chicken out of the marinade and place it on the grill, skin-side down. Grill breasts first, since they take the longest (they will need about a 10-minute head start depending on size). Grill the chicken for a few minutes and flip. Move the chicken around the grill to get desired amount of char. Pull the chicken off once the thickest parts reach 160°F and let it rest for about 5 minutes to get up to 165°F, which is the temperature recommended for chicken.

Yogurt Potato Salad
2 lb red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces (I ended up with 30 oz after trimming off some weird parts)
1-1/2 T olive oil
1 medium shallot, diced
1 red bell pepper, large-diced
2 large or 4 small carrots, thinly sliced (cut large ones in half lengthwise)
1 C plain yogurt (Greek or regular, but Greek will make a thicker dressing)
Red wine vinegar to taste
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Put the potatoes in a pot and cover them with water. Drain them, then cover them with water again. Bring to a boil and cook the potatoes just until tender. It only takes a few minutes when the pieces are so small. Be careful not to overcook them! Drain the potatoes and then place back in the pot with the lid on so they absorb the last bit of moisture. If after a few minutes, they're still pretty damp, turn on a little heat. Very dry potatoes make the best salad. Pour the potatoes into a very large bowl and toss them with the olive oil. Stir in the veggies, then mix together the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl before mixing into the salad. Refrigerate for a couple of hours, or better yet, overnight. If you want, add some chopped fresh herbs, like chives or flat-leaf parsley.

Potato salad Serves 6.