Post by April B. on May 29, 2003 12:06:35 GMT -6
The Chicken:
In selecting the chicken, remember that bone-in chicken with the
skin on stands a better chance of becoming the succulent, juicy,
crisp and brown entree you had in mind when you decided to barbecue
chicken in the first place. Just this once, curb your habit of
grabbing those boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
The Marinade:
Marinating chicken prior to barbecuing is optional. In fact, it's
quite possible to make excellent barbecued chicken without it, but
for those of us who like to fool around with our food to the maximum
extent, I recommend the following simple marinade:
½ C Fresh lime juice
½ C Apple juice
½ C Vegetable oil
8 Cloves garlic, minced
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
This is enough for about 8 pieces of chicken.
Trim any excess skin off chicken pieces. Marinate bone-in and skin-
on pieces 8 hours or overnight. Skinless, boneless pieces (if you
insist upon them) should be marinated no more than 1 hour. This
marinade does its job during the marinade process; drain the chicken
pieces and, with paper towels, blot marinade from surface of chicken
before putting on the grill.
How you cook the chicken is at least as important as what marinade
or sauce you use. Barbecuing is a slow process. Too hot a grill will
result in dried out chicken. If you have a covered grill, get one of
those inexpensive oven thermometers and set it inside the grill. If
your fancy-schmancy grill already has a thermostat, so much the
better. The ideal cooking temperature for barbecue is between 350°F <br>and 400°F (that's medium-hot coals in grilling parlance).
Also, put on your shopping list some of those hickory, mesquite or
apple wood chips and some heavy-duty aluminum foil.
The challenge in barbecuing chicken is that, if you put it on the
grill right over the coals, the oils and sauce from the chicken drip
onto the coals and ignite. The resulting flames char the chicken on
the outside before the meat is done on the inside. So we're not
going to do that. Before we get to the process, however, let's mix
up the sauce.
The Sauce:
Southwestern Barbecue Sauce
10 Cloves garlic, baked (at 350° for 30 minutes, then peel)
2 C Ketchup
2 Celery stalks, chopped
1 C Sweet or yellow onion, chopped
1 C Water
½ C Brown sugar, firmly packed
½ C Butter
½ C Worcestershire sauce
½ C Apple cider vinegar
3 T Chili powder
2 t Instant coffee
½ t Cayenne pepper
½ t Dried crushed red pepper
½ t Salt
½ t Ground cloves
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Slowly bring to a boil,
reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to cool.
Pour mixture into blender container. Process until smooth, scraping
down sides as necessary. Remove about 1 cup sauce to use during the
barbecue process. Reserve another cup of sauce for use in preparing
the Cowboy Pinto Beans. Serve remaining sauce with chicken (it may
be refrigerated up to a month). Makes about 5 cups.
The Barbecue Process:
These instructions assume that you have some kind of hooded grill.
(If you had planned on doing all this on your patio hibachi, I
recommend that you just drop by KFC.)
1. Put about 2 cups of your wood chips in the center of a large
sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Fold over the edges and seal the
top and sides, making a packet. Make several small holes in the top.
2. Remove food rack from grill.
3. Place 40 to 50 charcoal briquettes on either side of the grill,
leaving an empty space in the center. If grill uses lava rock,
position the rock on either side in the same manner. Put a drip pan
in the empty space. Place foil packet with wood chips on briquettes
(or rocks) and ignite charcoal. If using a gas grill, let it preheat
for 20 minutes. Allow charcoal to burn for 30 minutes or until the
flames disappear and coals turn white. Place your oven timer in the
grill where you can read it.
4. Coat food rack of grill with cooking spray and place on grill.
5. Be sure excess skin is trimmed from chicken pieces and that any
marinade is blotted from surface of chicken.
6. Arrange chicken, skin side up, on rack, directly over hot coals
(check with your oven timer -- should be between 350°F and 400°F).
Cook, with grill lid down, for 15 minutes.
7. Turn chicken and cook, again with grill lid down, for 10 to 15
minutes, still over the hot coals. Pieces should be golden.
8. Move chicken pieces over drip pan (skin side down), and brush
with barbecue sauce. Cook, with grill lid down, for 5 minutes.
9. Turn chicken skin side up. Brushing frequently with barbecue
sauce, cook, with grill lid down, for about 25 minutes.
Steps 6 and 7 ensure that your chicken develops a golden crust,
which holds in the juices, while Steps 8 and 9 guarantee that it is
fully cooked.
Cooking time totals about 1 hour. So, remember to start thinking
about getting the fire ready about an hour-and-a-half before you
want to eat.
Cowboy Pinto Beans
1 lb. Pinto beans
8 C Water
¼ lb. Salt pork (as lean as you can find)
14 oz. Canned whole tomatoes, with juice
4 Large cloves garlic, crushed
1 Large onion, chopped
2 T Chili powder
1 t Ground cumin
3 Jalapeños, seeded and chopped
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 C Reserved Southwestern Barbecue Sauce (see recipe, above)
1 t Salt
Wash and pick over beans. Make several cuts into the salt pork down
to, but not through, the rind. Combine all ingredients, except salt,
in heavy saucepan or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low
simmer. Cook very slowly, covered. Stir beans up from the bottom
occasionally, and add water if they start looking dry. Cook for at
least 3 hours. Beans are done when they are soft, but still hold
their shape. Do not cook to mush.
In selecting the chicken, remember that bone-in chicken with the
skin on stands a better chance of becoming the succulent, juicy,
crisp and brown entree you had in mind when you decided to barbecue
chicken in the first place. Just this once, curb your habit of
grabbing those boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
The Marinade:
Marinating chicken prior to barbecuing is optional. In fact, it's
quite possible to make excellent barbecued chicken without it, but
for those of us who like to fool around with our food to the maximum
extent, I recommend the following simple marinade:
½ C Fresh lime juice
½ C Apple juice
½ C Vegetable oil
8 Cloves garlic, minced
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
This is enough for about 8 pieces of chicken.
Trim any excess skin off chicken pieces. Marinate bone-in and skin-
on pieces 8 hours or overnight. Skinless, boneless pieces (if you
insist upon them) should be marinated no more than 1 hour. This
marinade does its job during the marinade process; drain the chicken
pieces and, with paper towels, blot marinade from surface of chicken
before putting on the grill.
How you cook the chicken is at least as important as what marinade
or sauce you use. Barbecuing is a slow process. Too hot a grill will
result in dried out chicken. If you have a covered grill, get one of
those inexpensive oven thermometers and set it inside the grill. If
your fancy-schmancy grill already has a thermostat, so much the
better. The ideal cooking temperature for barbecue is between 350°F <br>and 400°F (that's medium-hot coals in grilling parlance).
Also, put on your shopping list some of those hickory, mesquite or
apple wood chips and some heavy-duty aluminum foil.
The challenge in barbecuing chicken is that, if you put it on the
grill right over the coals, the oils and sauce from the chicken drip
onto the coals and ignite. The resulting flames char the chicken on
the outside before the meat is done on the inside. So we're not
going to do that. Before we get to the process, however, let's mix
up the sauce.
The Sauce:
Southwestern Barbecue Sauce
10 Cloves garlic, baked (at 350° for 30 minutes, then peel)
2 C Ketchup
2 Celery stalks, chopped
1 C Sweet or yellow onion, chopped
1 C Water
½ C Brown sugar, firmly packed
½ C Butter
½ C Worcestershire sauce
½ C Apple cider vinegar
3 T Chili powder
2 t Instant coffee
½ t Cayenne pepper
½ t Dried crushed red pepper
½ t Salt
½ t Ground cloves
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Slowly bring to a boil,
reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to cool.
Pour mixture into blender container. Process until smooth, scraping
down sides as necessary. Remove about 1 cup sauce to use during the
barbecue process. Reserve another cup of sauce for use in preparing
the Cowboy Pinto Beans. Serve remaining sauce with chicken (it may
be refrigerated up to a month). Makes about 5 cups.
The Barbecue Process:
These instructions assume that you have some kind of hooded grill.
(If you had planned on doing all this on your patio hibachi, I
recommend that you just drop by KFC.)
1. Put about 2 cups of your wood chips in the center of a large
sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Fold over the edges and seal the
top and sides, making a packet. Make several small holes in the top.
2. Remove food rack from grill.
3. Place 40 to 50 charcoal briquettes on either side of the grill,
leaving an empty space in the center. If grill uses lava rock,
position the rock on either side in the same manner. Put a drip pan
in the empty space. Place foil packet with wood chips on briquettes
(or rocks) and ignite charcoal. If using a gas grill, let it preheat
for 20 minutes. Allow charcoal to burn for 30 minutes or until the
flames disappear and coals turn white. Place your oven timer in the
grill where you can read it.
4. Coat food rack of grill with cooking spray and place on grill.
5. Be sure excess skin is trimmed from chicken pieces and that any
marinade is blotted from surface of chicken.
6. Arrange chicken, skin side up, on rack, directly over hot coals
(check with your oven timer -- should be between 350°F and 400°F).
Cook, with grill lid down, for 15 minutes.
7. Turn chicken and cook, again with grill lid down, for 10 to 15
minutes, still over the hot coals. Pieces should be golden.
8. Move chicken pieces over drip pan (skin side down), and brush
with barbecue sauce. Cook, with grill lid down, for 5 minutes.
9. Turn chicken skin side up. Brushing frequently with barbecue
sauce, cook, with grill lid down, for about 25 minutes.
Steps 6 and 7 ensure that your chicken develops a golden crust,
which holds in the juices, while Steps 8 and 9 guarantee that it is
fully cooked.
Cooking time totals about 1 hour. So, remember to start thinking
about getting the fire ready about an hour-and-a-half before you
want to eat.
Cowboy Pinto Beans
1 lb. Pinto beans
8 C Water
¼ lb. Salt pork (as lean as you can find)
14 oz. Canned whole tomatoes, with juice
4 Large cloves garlic, crushed
1 Large onion, chopped
2 T Chili powder
1 t Ground cumin
3 Jalapeños, seeded and chopped
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 C Reserved Southwestern Barbecue Sauce (see recipe, above)
1 t Salt
Wash and pick over beans. Make several cuts into the salt pork down
to, but not through, the rind. Combine all ingredients, except salt,
in heavy saucepan or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low
simmer. Cook very slowly, covered. Stir beans up from the bottom
occasionally, and add water if they start looking dry. Cook for at
least 3 hours. Beans are done when they are soft, but still hold
their shape. Do not cook to mush.