By Memorial Day weekend, and Hartford has finally decided to remember what warmth feels like. The gray has lifted. The trees are full. The yard, which Eduardo has been claiming he will attend to since April, was attended to — he mowed, I watched from the back door with café, and we had a brief negotiation about whether the hostas needed trimming that ended the way all Eduardo-and-Carmen negotiations end, which is that I was right and he agreed eventually and we both moved on.
The holiday cookout is a tradition I inherited from nobody and built myself. In Puerto Rico, you cook inside, you eat at the table, the kitchen is the sacred center. But here in Hartford, when May finally delivers real warmth, I take it outside. I set up the long folding table on the patio. Eduardo manages the grill. I manage Eduardo managing the grill, which means I stand nearby and provide guidance that he calls interference and I call quality control.
Miguel Jr. and Jenny came with Lucas, who is now walking — truly walking, not the careful two-step shuffle of two weeks ago but the confident forward propulsion of a child who has made a decision about locomotion. He walked directly to the grill and tried to touch it and Miguel Jr. caught him and I said, this is a Delgado. He goes toward the heat. It is in the blood. Jenny looked at me to see if I was concerned. I was not concerned. I was proud.
The menu was simple and correct: grilled chicken marinated in the sofrito-and-adobo mixture that I developed over thirty years of making it — lime juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin, oregano, and the sofrito base, all blended and applied the night before. I also made potato salad and a pitcher of agua de parcha, passion fruit juice, because the heat required something cold and the store-bought lemonade that Eduardo suggested was not going to happen. Rosa came without Carlos, who was with his family in the Bronx. David called from Brooklyn. Sofía recovered from finals enough to eat three plates and declare herself functional again. Mami ate in her chair and said the chicken was acceptable. I will take it.
The chicken from the cookout never lasts — between Eduardo, Miguel Jr., and Sofía’s three-plate recovery from finals, it rarely makes it to Sunday. But when it does, or when I make a second batch just so it will, this is what I do with it: load it onto a baked potato with barbecue sauce and all the fixings, and call it dinner without apology. It has the same warmth as the patio, the same ease as a holiday that went the way holidays are supposed to go, and it’s the kind of thing Lucas will ask for by name someday, once he has names for things.
BBQ Chicken Baked Potatoes
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 1 hr | Total Time: 1 hr 15 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup barbecue sauce, divided
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Bake the potatoes. Preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce each potato several times with a fork, rub with olive oil, and place directly on the oven rack. Bake for 50–60 minutes, until the skin is crisp and a fork slides easily into the center.
- Season and cook the chicken. While the potatoes bake, combine garlic powder, smoked paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Rub the spice mixture over the chicken breasts. Grill over medium-high heat (or cook in a lightly oiled skillet) for 6–7 minutes per side, until cooked through and internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- Sauce and shred the chicken. Brush the cooked chicken with 1/2 cup of the barbecue sauce and let rest for 5 minutes. Use two forks to shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces, then toss with the remaining 1/2 cup barbecue sauce until well coated.
- Split and load the potatoes. Remove potatoes from the oven. Cut a deep lengthwise slit in each potato and gently press the ends together to open it up. Add 1/2 tablespoon butter to each and fluff the interior slightly with a fork.
- Top and serve. Divide the saucy shredded chicken evenly among the four potatoes. Top each with shredded cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and a scatter of sliced green onions. Serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 580 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 65g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 890mg