Tag-Archive for ◊ grill ◊

23 Jul 2011 Beef Skewers
Author:  |  Category: Appetizers, Grilling, Main Dish, Red Meat, Teaching Boys to Cook Series  | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,  | Leave a Comment

Meat on a stick! Is there anything better?  When I was pregnant with my first child, my cravings were iced tea, tomato soup, and “tasty chunks of beef”!  Twenty-six year later, I still crave tasty chunks of beef!

This is a very easy recipe, resulting is some mighty fine, Asian accented, “tasty chunks of beef”.  Chill the meat for 30 minutes, marinate for 30 minutes, grill and eat.  For a special treat serve with corn-on-the-cob, grilled veggies or a salad and some Bloomin’ Onion Bread!

When I was a single full time working mother of three children I was a master of freezer food.  This was one of my favorites.  Homebaked Chicken Nuggets were another.  I would buy two flank steaks and some skewers.  I’d unroll the flank steaks and then freeze for 30 minutes to make it easier to slice. At the same time I would soak the skewers in cold water.  Then I’d probably sit down with my feet up, an iced coffee and a good book while the the meat chilled and the skewers soaked, LOL!  A sense of humor is a wonderful thing!  More than likely during that thirty minutes I’d finish putting the groceries away, wipe up a spill, ask a telemarketer to put me on the no-call list, solve a kid dispute, feed the dog, move the laundry over, eat lunch and load the dishwasher …  ANYWAY, after thirty minutes I’d slice the beef and thread it onto the skewers.  Then I would layer the skewers into a shoe box sided plastic container.  I’d put wax paper between the layers, and freeze the whole box.  One box would last two or three months and provide plenty of yummy and quick week night main dishes…easily expandable to however many people were home.  Just take out 3-5 skewers per person.  Mix up the marinade.  Marinate the desired number of skewers for 30 minutes, then grill or broil!

Oh, and I often omit the sesame seeds, as I don’t care for them :)

Beef Skewers

  • 1 flank steak, approx 1.5 lbs, (unrolled) and slightly frozen (for about 30 min or so)
  • 30 bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 30 minutes)

Marinade

  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons Sake (an opened bottle will keep 1 year in refrigerator)
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 1 ½ teaspoons grated ginger (keep any leftover fresh ginger in baggie in freezer, when ready to use no need to defrost, just peel and grate!)
  • 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (toast in dry frying pan until fragrant)
  • 3 green onions sliced

  1. Slice flank steak, across the grain, into thin strips.  Thread meat slices onto skewers, accordion style. It’s easy!  Child’s play!  (NOTE: Meat on sticks can be frozen at this point. When ready to use, just remove from freezer.  Let defrost for as long as it takes to make marinade.  Then continue with recipe.)
  2. Combine soy sauce, sugar, and sake; stir well to dissolve sugar.  Add in garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, and green onions.
  3. Pour over meat on sticks.  Marinate 30 minutes.
  4. Remove skewers from marinade.
  5. Grill over hot fire or broil for 2-3 minutes on each side.  Good hot, room temperature, and cold! I’ve served these as appetizers and as a main dish.

    Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today!  I hope I have given you an idea for this weekend’s BBQ and for busy school night meals, too!

    25 Jun 2011 Triple Threat Chicken
    Author:  |  Category: Grilling, Main Dish, Poultry, Seasonal, Uncategorized  | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,  | 2 Comments

    I take terrible food photos, but I DO grill pretty decent hunks of marinated and glazed chicken breast.  (Marinated, glazed and grilled=Triple Threat.)  This recipe is a result of years of trail and error, but I think it’s original roots were from Epicurious. com. This is a no fuss, no fail recipe made with ingredients most people have on hand.  The end result is a beautiful to look at, slightly tangy and slightly sweet platter of  moist, tender chunks of grilled chicken.  Fabulous! It’s always been a hit.  In fact, I served it at my Senior Prom (my 50th Birthday Party) a few years ago :)

    Here is my most important tip for grilling chicken:  don’t grill the whole breast!  Have you looked at a chicken breast? The thickness varies in every breast from about a quarter inch to an inch or more!  Therefore, a whole chicken breast is impossible to grill properly.  I cut up each breast into large hunks, and then grill chunks of similar thickness and size together.  A no-brainer, right?  First, cut off the tenderloin.  Then, cut off that piece at the thin end on the breast (you’ll get a thin triangular chunk).  Then cut straight across  the remaining breast and get the medium thick center piece.  Now what you have left is the really thick top part of the breast.  I cut this in half on the diagonal.  Done!  Each chunk can be cooked to perfection.

    Here’s my second most important tip for grilling chicken:  Half cook the marinated chicken on the grill, then take it off the grill and dunk into a pan with the glaze, then return the chicken to the grill to finish off.  This enables the chicken to cook before the glaze burns!  Novices will use a brush and brush the glaze on the half cooked chicken.  Silly novices.  Brushing does not get enough glaze on the chicken, and a lot of the glaze drips onto the coals, which causes flare ups, which causes hot hands and more burned spots than necessary.

    Now, here is my ‘Grandma tip’ for enticing little kiddies to eat chicken… After grilling, cut their chicken pieces into smaller chunks and skewer each chunk with a large toothpick.  Kids (of all ages) love food on a stick!  (If you think ahead, reserve a bit of the glaze for the kids to use as a dip–don’t give them the glaze you dunked the half cooked chicken in though!) Be prepared for the grandkids to ask for more of “Grandma’s Yummy Chicken”!

    Speaking of “Grandma’s Yummy Chicken” do you know what I saw at our neighborhood BBQ last night?  A man grilling those frozen breaded chicken nuggets!  I could NOT believe it.  Those things didn’t look good, and I KNOW they didn’t taste good.   If he were short of time, why didn’t he just grab a package of real chicken and grill that up?  Plain grilled chicken would have been so much better health wise, and would have tasted better, too!  I should have offered him some of my chicken, shouldn’t I?  I had plenty of extra.  Shoot.  Why didn’t I think of that at the time?  Anyway, pat YOURself on the back, you would never serve grill breaded chicken nuggets to your family, and you are allocating a few extra minutes to get some extra yumminess into fresh chicken breasts for your family!

    Polly’s Triple Threat Chicken

    For the Marinade

    • 1/2 cup soy sauce
    • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
    • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar or raspberry vinegar (I keep a bottle of raspberry vinegar on hand just for this recipe)
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
    • 1 teaspoon dried basil
    • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
    • 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley (or 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh parsley)
    • 1 crushed and chopped garlic clove (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)

    For the Glaze

    • 3/4 cup ketchup
    • 3/4 cup honey
    • 1/2 cup soy sauce
    • 3 crushed and chopped garlic cloves
    • a few drops of Tabasco (I live in fear of hot and spicy food, so I only use about 1/4-1/2 teaspoonful)

    Place your chicken chunks into a large Ziploc bag or marinating tray.  In a small measuring cup or bowl, combine all ingredients for marinade.  Pour the marinade over the chicken.  Refrigerate, and marinate chicken for 2 to 4 hours.  Remove from refrigerator one hour before grilling so the chicken can be at room temperature before putting on grill.

    While chicken is marinating, prepare the glaze.  Combine all ingredients and place in a bowl or container (the container should be big enough to hold chunks of half cooked chicken and be able to withstand the heat of half cooked chicken.  I use a large flat Tupperware container), stir well to combine. If you want, put a bit of the glaze into a small bowl to be used for a dip.  Set glaze aside.

    Drain the room temperature chicken from the marinade.  Grill.  Pick out similar size pieces of chicken and put them next to each other on the grill.  Put the thickest pieces on first, then the tenderloins, then those thin triangular pieces.  Turn as needed.  When the pieces are one-half to two-thirds cooked, remove from grill and dunk completely into the prepared glaze, turning to get a good coat.  Return the chicken pieces to the grill for an additional 1-2 minutes on each side.  The glaze will caramelize and look completely yummy.  Allow the chicken to get grill marks, but remove from heat before charring!!

    Remove chicken to a serving platter, and dig in!

    Corn-on-the-cob (or corn-on-the-bone, as one little girl I know calls it) or other steamed or roasted veggies (check out my Grilled Portobello Mushroom recipe), a pasta salad, potato salad, or green salad and some bread (check out my recipe for Bloomin’ Onion Bread)  and chilled watermelon will round out the meal.  To drink you could serve Iced Tea or  Blueberry Lemonade.  Spread the red checkered tablecloth over the table in the backyard, set out the salt, pepper, paper plates and paper napkins and you are all set for a classic all American BBQ dinner!  YUM!

    Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today.  I hope my chicken grilling trial-and-error will help you serve up some delicious chicken for your family.  If you have any other hints for perfectly grilled chicken, or WOWZA side dishes, just leave a comment.

    Talk to you tomorrow!

    P.S. This grilled entree is being added to the summer grilling link party at Family Fresh Cooking! Let’s get Grillin’ with Family Fresh Cooking and Cookin’ Canuck, sponsored by Ile de France Cheese, Rösle, Emile Henry, ManPans and Rouxbe!

    09 Jun 2011 Marinated and Grilled Portobello Mushrooms
    Author:  |  Category: Appetizers, Grilling, Side Dishes, Veggies  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | 11 Comments

    The best Marinated and Grilled Portobello Mushrooms I’ve ever had were served at my 30th high school reunion. (Yes, I am that old. Dang it.)  The mushrooms were served at room temperature, they were “meaty” (as Portobellos are known to be), tangy, smokey, and a bit salty.  Of all the things to remember about a high school reunion, I remember the mushrooms?  There’s something seriously wrong with me…

    Most unfortunately,  I don’t have that particular Helix High School 30th Reunion recipe for mushrooms, but I have finally found a recipe and method  that seems to come pretty darn close.  For this I have to thank Cook’s Illustrated, which was a starting point for this recipe.   I adjusted their method just a bit to ensure some nice grill marks on the Portobello slices, and to make it a bit more convenient to prep ahead of time.  The original recipe is from the 2010 “Summer Grilling” publication (page 61).

    These Portobellos are marinated, grilled, sliced, grilled a second time, marinated a second time, and served.  Yes, another recipe that is a bit of a bother, but the steps are easy, and can be done ahead of time, and the final step can be done while the guests stand around ohhh-ing and ahh-ing and wishing they knew how to make such marvelous mushrooms.  You’ll feel so accomplished. Trust me on this.

    Marinated and Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

    4 large Portobello mushrooms (between 5 and 6 inches in diameter, about 6 oz., each, in weight)

    Pre-grilling Marinade

    • 1/2 cup olive oil
    • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
    • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
    • 1/2 teaspoon table salt

    Post -grilling Marinade

    • 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
    • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
    • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon (or 1 teaspoon dried)
    • 1/4 teaspoon table salt
    1. Combine all ingredients for first marinade in a large Ziploc bag.  Add cleaned mushrooms, seal bag, and toss gently. Let mushrooms stand at room temperature for about one hour in this marinade.
    2. Cut four 12-inch pieces of foil.  Remove mushrooms from marinade.  Place one mushroom, gill side up, on each square of foil.  Fold foil edges over mushroom and seal securely.
    3. Grill mushrooms in foil packed, gill side/sealed foil side UP, until mushroom is tender and juicy, about 10 to 12 minutes.  Set aside to cool.
    4. Carefully open foil packets.  Remove mushrooms and slice, on the diagonal, into long thick slices.
    5. Combine all the ingredients for the second marinade in a large bowl and set aside.
    6. 20 minutes before dinner, return sliced mushrooms to grill.  Grill each slice until nicely grill marked.  Depending on the heat of your grill this could take anywhere from 1-3 minutes on each side.
    7. Place grilled mushroom slices in bowl with marinade and toss to coat.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let mushrooms marinate for 15 minutes (and up to 30 minutes).
    8. Remove mushrooms from marinade and place on serving platter. Enjoy!

    Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today.  If you would like to receive a quick 2-line email when I post my next recipe, please enter your email address in the “subscribe” box in the right-hand column :)

    Happy Grilling!

    P.S. This grilled recipe is being added to the summer grilling link party at Family Fresh Cooking! Let’s get Grillin’ with Family Fresh Cooking and Cookin’ Canuck, sponsored by Ile de France Cheese, Rösle, Emile Henry, ManPans and Rouxbe!

    06 Jun 2011 Flank Steak Pinwheels
    Author:  |  Category: Grilling, Main Dish, Red Meat, Seasonal  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | 9 Comments

    As I mentioned in my previous note, I’ve had a rough few months, so last Friday I invited my girlfriends over for a BBQ.  This much I know is true: nothing heals and rejuvenates more than a gathering of kind, funny, independent women.  And when you put kind, funny, independent women in a room with good food, some of it experimental, a bottle of wine, and five desserts…WOW!!!  We didn’t get up from the dinner table until 12:12 AM Saturday morning!!! I feel MUCH better!

    One of the experimental foods I tried was the Grilled and Stuffed Flank Steak from the Summer 2011 edition of Cook’s Illustrated “Summer Grilling” magazine (page 15).  Truth be told, the recipe was a bit of a hassle.  The flank steak had to be butterflied, then it had to be stuffed, then tied with string, then sliced, then skewered.  But, the recipe worked and it wasn’t hard.  I had fun making this, and the results were very pretty!  Perfect for a girlie BBQ!

    I am going to make these again.  I like special, fun, and pretty, and I don’t mind a bit of a hassle to get that.

    Flank Steak Pinwheels

    You’ll need some metal skewers and some kitchen string to assemble the pinwheels.  The pinwheels are meant to be grilled on either a charcoal BBQ or a gas grill.

    • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
    • 1 small shallot, minced
    • 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
    • 1 teaspoon minced fresh sage
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • 1 flank steak, 2 – 2 1/2 lbs.
    • 4 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto
    • 4 oz. thinly sliced provolone cheese
    1. Freeze the flank steak for 30 minutes (slightly frozen flank steak is easier to butterfly).  Meanwhile, chop ingredients, assemble the stuffing in step 2, unwrap the prosciutto and cheese, and find the skewers, the kitchen string, and a ruler.
    2. Combine the garlic, shallot, parsley, sage and olive oil in a small bowl.
    3. Lay the partially frozen flank steak on a large cutting board, with the grain of the meat running parallel to the counter edge.  With a sharp knife, butterfly the flank steak, leaving 1/2 inch of uncut meat along the top edge of the meat.
    4. Open the meat and lay flat.  It will probably look like a raggy rectangle.  Cover the top of the meat with plastic wrap and then pound the meat with a meat mallet or small pan until the meat is a uniform thickness and the steak is roughly in the shape of a rectangle.
    5. Spread the herb mixture from step 2 over the flank steak.
    6. Lay the prosciutto evenly over the steak, leaving a 2 inch border along the top edge.  Layer the cheese over the prosciutto, again, leaving a 2 inch border along the top edge.
    7. Starting from the bottom edge of the pounded and garnished flank steak, and rolling away from you, roll the flank steak into a tight log and place seam side down on the cutting board.
    8. Now use your kitchen string and tie the rolled flank steak at one inch intervals. (Hint:  Use a ruler to measure the intervals.  You don’t want the string any more or any less than 1 inch apart).
    9. Now skewer the rolled flank steak near each string.  Depending on the size of your flank steak, you should  have about 8 pieces of string, so you will probably need 8 skewers and get 8 pinwheels to grill.
    10. Now slice the rolled and stuffed flank steak at one inch (or slightly smaller) intervals.  Be sure each slice–each pinwheel–is held together with a piece of string and a skewer.
    11. Grill the pinwheels until the center of the pinwheel registers 125 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.  This should take approx 6 minutes of grilling time on the first side, and 5 minutes of grilling time on the second side–but of course this has a lot to do with the heat of your fire.
    12. Remove cooked pinwheels from the grill, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes.
    13. Remove skewers and string from pinwheels, and serve!

    I served the flank steak pinwheels with grilled artichokes, marinated Portobello mushrooms, and baked Hassleback potatoes.  The recipe for Hasselback potatoes is posted on my site, and in the next few days I will post my recipe for grilled artichoke and marinated Portobello mushrooms.  Send out the evite!  Have a BBQ this weekend.  Invite all your special friends and rejuvenate your spirit.

    Thanks for stopping by my (outdoor) kitchen today.

    P.S. This grilled entree is being added to the summer grilling link party at Family Fresh Cooking! Let’s get Grillin’ with Family Fresh Cooking and Cookin’ Canuck, sponsored by Ile de France Cheese, Rösle, Emile Henry, ManPans and Rouxbe!

    23 Sep 2010 Asian Glazed Thighs
    Author:  |  Category: Grilling, Guest Recipe, Main Dish, Poultry  | Tags: , , , , , , , ,  | 4 Comments

    My friend Anne, has a brother John.  He’s a rugged Man’s Man from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  He canoes.  He scuba dives.  He sports shark tattoos. He swims in Lake Superior  (In the winter.  I don’t know why. Something to do with Polar Bears.) John also cooks.  Often on a grill.  John offered to be my guest poster today with this recipe for Asian Glazed Thighs (Note to John, you might consider revising the recipe title…the mind does tend to wander a bit…)

    John  found this recipe in Parade Magazine a few years ago.  Damn.  He reads the newspaper, too.

    John said, when introducing this recipe to me, “Too often, very tasty Asian cooking is drowned in soy sauce.  Not so with this dish.  The orange flavor really comes through because you’re using both the zest and the juice of the orange. You’ll taste the soy sauce, but just a hint of it.”  Now, I did mention that this man swims in Lake Superior, right?  In fact, he took his scuba check out dives in Lake Superior in April.  He had to wade through the ice floating in the lake before submerging…makes you wonder a bit about his judgment, doesn’t it?  :)   So…, just to be on the safe side,  I tested this recipe before I posted it.  YUMMMMmmm.  I knew, with the first stolen tester off the grill, that he had a GREAT recipe.  I was licking my fingers and moaning, impatiently waiting for the rest of the chicken to be done.

    Just to be on the double-safe side, I took the chicken to Yoga-Massage night to share with my friends and to get their feedback.  To keep their minds on the food, I didn’t mention the name of this dish.  I know them. If they knew they name of this dish they would have gone where we don’t want to go…

    We all loved the chicken.  I got multiple requests to post the recipe ASAP.  So here it is.

    Thanks, John.  If this recipe is well received, John has promised to share his Coffee and Soy Marinated Pork Chop recipe.  Double damn.  He likes coffee, too.

    Asian Glazed Thighs

    Eight boneless/skinless chicken thighs
    2 tbsp toasted sesame oil (I used regular sesame oil)
    Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
    1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
    ¾ c fresh orange juice (juice from about 3 medium oranges)
    1 tbsp minced garlic
    3 tbsp soy sauce
    ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
    ¼ c honey
    Salt and pepper to taste
    Sesame seeds (for garnish)

    1.       Rinse thighs and pat dry.

    2.       Combine rest of ingredients for marinade.  Reserve 1/2 to 1 cup of the marinade, cover and refrigerate (you’ll be using this to baste the chicken later).  Toss the chicken in the rest of the marinade.  Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours or overnight.

    3. Remove chicken and basting marinade from fridge 30 minutes before cooking.

    5.       Grill  thighs, basting often, for about 15 minutes. (This is the fun part.  Toss the thighs on a very hot grill-hot enough to char the outside a little.  Then baste often and flip often.  John moves the thighs onto and off of the heat, assisted by a glass of wine, and finds he usually grills the meat for about 15 minutes.)

    6.       Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.

    John says,  “The honey caramelizes very nicely on the grill. You can bake the thighs in the oven (350° for about 45 minutes), but why?  The grill adds a very nice smoky flavor.”  John  also grills some sweet peppers (coated in olive oil and sprinkled with Kosher salt) and often  serves over a bed of rice.  See his picture above.  Looks like he eats veggies, too…

    Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today, especially you, John!

    07 Sep 2010 Beer Can Chicken
    Author:  |  Category: Grilling, Main Dish, Poultry, Teaching Boys to Cook Series  | Tags: , , , , , , ,  | One Comment

    My friend Adele is the queen of Beer Can Chicken.  She even tried to teach me how to do it. I failed miserably.  Mine just didn’t have the flavor that hers had.  Knowing I was beat, I decided that Adele would reign as Beer Can Chicken Queen forever. And ever.

    …but the flavor of her chicken kept nagging at me.  For two years I let it bother me…

    Then, the theme of my Cookbook Club in August was “Grilling”, with the book being any BBQ/Grill book by Steven Raichlen.  I already had a few of his books (BBQ Bible, How to Grill, and Sauces, Rubs and Marinades) so I thought I was all set. Wouldn’t you know I would casually wander past the cookbook section in the bookstore ANYWAY?  Just to look, of course. What should I see there but another cookbook by Steven Raichlen!  The title of this book?  “Beer Can Chicken“!  I couldn’t NOT get it. It was only $12.95…, and I had a 40% off coupon!  It was a sign!  It was time for me to attempt Beer Can Chicken, again.

    Now I am not quite up to Queen Adele’s level, but I am loving this method of cooking a chicken.  For Cookbook Club I made Thai Coconut Chicken and Peach Nectar Chicken. (Pictured above.  I cooked them both on the same grill at the same time.  The darker color of one of the chickens is a result of a darker rub.)  Both went over well, but I thought the sauce for the Thai Coconut Chicken was too thick and had too much peanut butter in it.  I’ll have to make a few changes before I can endorse that recipe (like decreasing the peanut butter from 3/4 cup to 1/4 cup, and increasing the liquid a bit).  BUT, I like fruity BBQ’d stuff, so the Peach Nectar Chicken was a big hit with me.  Both of these recipes I made on the grill.

    Yesterday when my 19 year old son was home, and said he wanted to learn to cook something (I couldn’t believe my ears, but I jumped right on it!). One of the things we made was Raichlen’s Basic Beer Can chicken in the oven.  I’m coverted!  He is too. This is one GREAT way to cook a chicken.  Once the nasty prep work was done (rinsing the chicken and removing the innards) it was a super easy dish to make that needed no babysitting once it was in the oven.  I told my son he could eat a week off of one roasted chicken (especially if he boiled the bones up for chicken stock and then used that for a pasta-veggie soup towards the end of the week).  I’m not sure he’s at the point to make his own chicken stock and then transform that into a soup, but I have hope for the boy.  If can master Beer Can Chicken at 19, he’s off to a good start.

    Now, I’m pretty sure that you are wondering WHY you should roast a chicken when you can buy good ones at the supermarket or Costco…  The taste my friends, the taste!  This chicken is moist and flavorful.  If you give a supermarket chicken a 4 or 5, on a scale of 1 to 10, you’d give this chicken a 10 (and you’d be wishing for an 11 on the scale)!

    Recipes below can be cooked in the oven at 400 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes (check after 1 hour), or on either a gas grill or charcoal BBQ for the same length of time.  If you are unsure of how to cook indirectly on the grill or BBQ, please consult one of Steven Raichlen’s books (or view an online video). The first recipe is a basic roast chicken recipe, which we roasted in the oven and served without any sauce.  The second recipe is the one for the Peachy BBQ chicken, which I cooked on a gas grill and  served with a sauce.

    Once you make one of these, you’ll be whipping up your own variations.  Will we be bringing back the traditional Sunday Roast Chicken dinner this fall?  Maybe, just maybe…, it would be easy enough… :)

    Basic Beer Can Chicken

    1 12 oz can beer (or Coke-a-Cola)
    a 3 ½ – 4 lb whole chicken
    2 teaspoons vegetable oil

    For the rub:

    1 Tablespoon chili powder
    1 Tablespoon  Kosher salt (or 2 teaspoons table salt)
    2 teaspoons light brown sugar
    1 teaspoon black pepper
    1 teaspoon ground cumin
    1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
    1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more if you like  a bit of a kick)

    1. Position oven an oven rack low enough to accommodate an upright chicken sitting on a can. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

    2. Combine all ingredients for the rub into a small bowl.  Mix and set aside.

    3. Pour out or drink 3/4 cup of the beer or Coke.  With a church key make 2 additional holes in the top of the now half full can (so more liquid can steam out and into the chicken).  Spray the outside of the can heavily with Pam.  Set can aside.

    4. Rinse the chicken, and remove the packet of innards. Pat dry. (This is the nasty part)

    5. Place 1 teaspoon of rub inside the body of the chicken.  Place ½ teaspoon rub in the neck cavity of the chicken. Drizzle 2 teaspoons veg. oil over the outside of the chicken and rub or brush it into the skin. Rub the oil covered chicken with 1 tablespoon of the rub.  I also put a bit of rub in between the skin of the breast and the meat of the breast. (Just pull up the skin, sprinkle in the spice mix, then rub it a round a bit) Pour remaining rub into the can of peach nectar.

    6. Put the chicken on the can.  Then put the can with the chicken onto it into a roasting pan. Pull the legs forward.  The legs are two of a tripod, the can is the third. Tuck the wings behind the chicken’s back.  Chicken should look comfortable and be well balanced.

    7. Place chicken in oven.  Bake for approx. 1 1/4 hours.

    8. CAREFULLY remove the chicken from the oven.  Be even more careful removing the chicken from the can, don’t let any hot liquid spill on you. Removing the can from the chicken is really a two person job.  I had my son hold the chicken with foil covered oven mitts over the sink, while I pulled the can out of the chicken cavity with tongs. If you sprayed the can with Pam, this should be relatively easy to do, just a bit awkward.  If you forgot the Pam, may God be with you.

    9. Let chicken sit for 15 minutes, lightly tented with foil, before carving.  We slice the breast, and serve in surrounded by thighs, drumsticks, and wings.

    Peachy BBQ Chicken

    1 12 oz can peach nectar
    a 3 inch cinnamon stick
    a 3 ½ – 4 lb whole chicken
    2 teaspoons vegetable oil
    2 cups wood chunks (peach or apple) soaked for one hour in water/beer then drained (not needed if cooking in oven)

    For the Rub

    2 teaspoons brown sugar
    2 teaspoons sweet paprika
    1 teaspoon Kosher salt
    1 teaspoon black pepper
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    ¼ teaspoon cardamon

    For the Peach BBQ Sauce

    ¾ cup peach nectar
    ½ cup ketchup
    2 tablespoons peach or apricot preserves
    1 tablespoon honey, more to taste if desired
    1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
    1 tablespoon dark rum (or peach schnapps)
    ½ teaspoon soy sauce
    ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke
    ¼ cup water
    Kosher salt
    Black pepper, to taste

    1. Combine all ingredients for the rub into a small bowl.  Mix and set aside.

    2. Pour ¾ cup of the peach nectar into a measuring cup and set aside for the BBQ sauce.  With a church key make 2 additional holes in the top of the peach nectar can.  Add the cinnamon stick to the can, Spray the outside of the can heavily with Pam. Set can aside.

    3. Rinse the chicken, and remove the packet of innards. Pat dry. (This is the nasty part)

    4. Place 1 teaspoon of rub inside the body of the chicken.  Place ½ teaspoon rub in the neck cavity of the chicken. Drizzle 2 teaspoons veg. oil over the outside of the chicken and rub or brush it into the skin. Rub the oil covered chicken with 1 tablespoon of the rub.  I also put a bit of rub in between the skin of the breast and the meat of the breast. (Just pull up the skin, sprinkle in the spice mix, then rub it a round a bit) Pour remaining rub into the can of peach nectar.

    5. Put the chicken on the can.  Pull the legs forward.  The legs are two of a tripod, the can is the third. Tuck the wings behind the chicken’s back.  Chicken should look comfortable and be well balanced.

    6. Set up grill for indirect grilling.  Place drained wood chips in smoker box.  Preheat grill to high or until there is smoke, and then reduce to medium.

    7. Set chicken on can on unheated portion of grill.  Cover grill.  Rotate chicken ¼ turn every 15 minutes.  Cook until chicken temp is 180 in thickest part of thigh, about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours.

    8. While chicken is cooking, combine all ingredients for BBQ sauce in heavy saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add additional salt, pepper, and honey to taste.  Serve sauce warm or at room temperature with cooked chicken.  Any leftover sauce will keep for a week, covered, in refrigerator.

    9. CAREFULLY remove bird from grill.  Let chicken rest for 5 minutes then wrestle the bird off the can.  DO NOT SPILL THE HOT LIQUID or burn yourself in any other way.

    10. Halve, quarter, or carve the chicken and serve with Peach BBQ sauce.

    Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today.  Come back again!

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