When I walked into the Iacono Farm store, the phone was ringing off the hook.
It was a day in advance of the weekend and everyone on the East End of Long Island was bound and determined to serve Iacono Chicken (106 Long Lane, Easthampton NY Tel: 631 324 1107). That was my goal too and the reason that I had arrived moments after the place opened at one o’clock in the afternoon. I was glad I did because as I stood there waiting for Anthony Iacono to cut up my birds, it wasn’t very long before his mother, Mrs. Iacono, started telling prospective customers that they’d have to wait till Sunday or Monday for a chicken. And what is so special about an Iacono chicken?
The words ‘free range’ are bandied about by chicken producers everywhere.
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| Much loved for 21 years and counting |
My quest for the perfect chickens.
I wanted to recreate a recipe that I first made 21 years ago. Here’s a photo of the recipe page from my cookbook. Over the years, I’ve hauled it out for many a summer meal. The thing that makes this dish unique is two-fold. The chicken parts sit in a cooking sauce overnight and then are baked in the same sauce, low and slow. They are really cooked when they come out of their long haul in the oven. But without a few minutes on the grill, I’m not sure they would qualify as barbecued chicken. And even with the very unique barbecue sauce that is served with them.
My Iacono chickens have a double whammy of flavor
The recipe for the first sauce was sourced from an article called “Ode to Skeets” published in the New York Times in July of 1990.
Much to my astonishment, I found it in the Times archive. There it contained instructions for both the oven-baked method which I use and the option to use the sauce to baste the chicken while cooking it directly on the grill. There was also the warning that grill cooking times varied widely according to the heat of the grill. It’s precisely for that reason that I go the baked-in-the-oven direction. I have strong memories of a dear friend (and I am not naming names) who used to grill chicken to what would be called ‘medium rare’ if one were being kind. Said chicken would then have to be put back on the grill for another hour. This led most of his guests to be in a state of considerable inebriation by the time the chicken was finally served.
About the Santa Barbara Barbecue Sauce
it is a recipe from Gourmet, August 1990. Unfortunately, its story is lost in time and not even available on epicurious.com. What makes it unique is that it uses a Granny Smith apple and a gherkin to create a flavor that is tangy and zesty without the sugar or smoke of many a southern barbecue sauce I’ve tried. You 
will have quite a lot of it and by all means, refrigerate it and serve it again as a condiment with your next steak on the grill, or your next pork chop.
What to serve on the side.
1 cup ketchup 3#3-pound chickens, cut into 8 pieces each. 2. Place the chickens in a large baking dish and pour the sauce over it. Cover and marinate the chicken for 4 hours or overnight.
1. Combine the ingredients for the barbecue sauce in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring.
While the chicken is baking make the Santa Barbara Barbecue Sauce:
dear chef
Sound very yummy, but alas no BBQ chez moi! (and no place to put/use one) What do you suggest?
that Montrealer
You can actually make this dish in the oven. Simply remove the chicken from the first barbecue sauce and put the chicken on a wire rack and put the rack on a sheet pan. Broil the chicken 6 inches from the broiler for 3-4 minutes or until chicken is browned to your liking. Serve with Santa Barbara Sauce. Hope this will work for you.
With regard to the one ingredient in the Sea Barbara BBQ Sauce- bottle of chili sauce
What brand would you recommend
Dear Gigi, I use Sambal Oelek which, if your supermarket doesn’t stock, you can buy right here…https://amzn.to/3WMHYnc