Chicken or Steak with Balsamic BBQ Sauce

Sadly, I believe that our grilling days are just about over for now. Our apartment does not allow grills, so we had to take ours to a better place. The one thing that consoled me was that summer is over, and grilling is not the primary way to cook anymore. I will still miss my grill all the same...a moment of silence please.

And now onto the food. I love BBQ sauce, but I just don't think you can beat the homemade stuff, especially when it's made like this. The base is balsamic vinegar, which makes it a very tangy dipping sauce, but comes out so sweet and gooey when grilled right onto the meat. You can't go wrong. And the good news is you can do it in your oven too, so don't let the cool weather get in the way of having fabulous BBQ chicken or steak!

Chicken or Steak with Balsamic BBQ Sauce
By Giada DiLaurentiis

Ingredients

For the Balsamic BBQ sauce:
1 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the chicken or steak:
4 pieces chicken (any combination of breast or leg-and-thigh pieces) or 4 pieces of New York strip or Club strip steak
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

For BBQ Sauce:
Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until all the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Simmer over medium heat until reduced by 1/3, about 15 to 20 minutes.

For the chicken or steak:
Place a grill pan over medium heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Lightly coat with some of the BBQ sauce using a pastry brush. Place the meat on the grill. Place the remaining BBQ sauce, still in the small saucepan, over low heat or on the edge of a gas or charcoal grill and allow to gently simmer while the meat cooks.

Cook the chicken about 8 minutes per side. Cook the steaks starting at about 4 minutes per side until a meat thermometer reads the desired temperature, 120 degrees F for medium rare, 135 degrees F for medium (about 6 minutes per side), 155 degrees F for well done (about 9 minutes per side). Continually brush the meat with BBQ sauce every few minutes. Remove the meat from the grill and let rest for at least 5 minutes. Serve with the heated BBQ sauce alongside.

Alternately, the chicken can be baked in the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the chicken skin side up in a baking dish and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the baking dish from the oven and spoon the BBQ sauce all over the top of the chicken. Return the baking dish to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes.