Hennepin-Marinated Chicken
For my guy friends who follow my blog and think my recipes are lacking a certain manliness—and for my readers’ husbands, fiancés, boyfriends, brothers—this one’s for you. When I was in grad school at Syracuse years ago, John came up for a visit and requested a trip to Cooperstown, New York. Every baseball-loving guy’s dream, right? To make the day trip somewhat of interest to me, he booked us for a microbrewery tour at Brewery Ommegang, which handcrafts the Belgian-style beers we had just started to get into at that time (and now pretty much the only beer I’ll drink). 
At the end of our tour, we got to talking with one of the brewery guys, and he scribbled down a rough recipe for us for marinating chicken using one of Ommegang’s brews. I’ve managed to keep up with the recipe after all these years, and I figured it was high time I shared…because what guy won’t be into flavorful, beer-marinated chicken? Of course it’s a recipe that’s equal parts manly and chic, with Belgian beer, orange zest, ginger, sesame oil and other delicious ingredients. Keep reading for the recipe and enjoy!
Hennepin-Marinated Chicken
1 12-ounce bottle of Brewery Ommegang’s Hennepin Farmhouse Saison (check your local wine/beer shops)
Zest of ½ an orange
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
3 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon honey
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
Sesame seeds
2 very large bone-in chicken breasts (boneless breasts will work just fine too)
In a gallon-sized Ziploc bag, combine all marinade ingredients. Add chicken breasts, remove air from the bag and seal. Press the marinade into the breasts, moving them around in the bag so they’re well covered. Place the bag in the refrigerator and let the chicken marinate for a few hours. To cook, heat a grill to medium-high heat. Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade and transfer to the grill, generously salting each side so it will brown nicely. Grill until cooked through, depending on the size of your chicken. To serve, sprinkle with extra sesame seeds. Goes great with summer sides like grilled corn, fresh salads or this grilled potato and zucchini salad, which is our current favorite!