Happy Sunday afternoon, readers!
I'm on a long drive back to Cowtown from Roswell and am excited to offer my first post regarding grilling. "Cowtown Grilling" comes to you complements of self proclaimed "Chef Boyar-Reid." Since we live a very traditional life, wherein the man does the outdoor cooking and the kitchen is my terrain, he will be assisting me with grilling posts.
Last Saturday Chef Boyar-Reid figured that roasting a chicken over the fire might make a nice dinner while watching Texas Tech's bowl game. Here's how the roasted chicken came to be incredibly delicious, straight from the horse's mouth. Please note that we have a stand for making Beer Can Chicken. While this is not required it is very helpful and can be found for just a few dollars at your local grocery store.
1. Clean the bird. We picked a bird with a "Pop-Up Timer." This is very helpful, because it is hard to tell when the chicken is done. This does the work for you.
2. Put the chicken on the beer can stand after getting the stand set up. Cut an inch off the top of the beer can you are using. Different flavors of beer will change the taste of the chicken. We just used a regular domestic, in our case Colorado Kool-Aid is the choice.
3. Marinate the chicken with olive oil and a chicken seasoning or spice blend. We used Savory Spices' blend, Reid also suggests "Kickin' Chicken." Add lemon pepper, kosher salt, and dried basil.
4. Take one lemon and cut it in half. Squeeze one half all over the chicken. With the other half, turn inside out and place on top of the chicken (where the neck would be). This allows the juice to drain out over the chicken while cooking and adds great flavor to the chicken breasts.
5. Using "charwood" (the chef's recommendation over standard charcoal), slow cook the chicken for an hour to an hour and a half, or until the Pop-Up Timer says it's ready. Make sure to have enough charwood to allow for cooking over this long period and that will stay at a hot temperature. Ideally you are able to keep the grill at about 300 degrees for the cooking period.
6. The chef also suggests a cast iron smoking box filled with your choice of wood chips. In this case, Jack Daniels Barrel Chips were used. Be sure to rotate the bird 360 degrees over the course of the cooking time to ensure an even roast.
7. Once your bird is ready, let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then serve warm along with your favorite sides.
Beer Can Chicken can also be done with a BBQ basting, which would take the place of the above mentioned marinade. Note that this basting will make your bird look nearly black when it is done cooking, so don't automatically assume that your bird is burned. Chances are good that it's not!
I know this is a very technique sensitive post so feel free to write me with questions or comments. I'll have Chef Boyar-Reid answer them as quickly as possible. This is definitely one of our favorite grilling meals!
Enjoy!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Pan Seared Pork
Happy New Year, readers!
I hope that your 2010 is off to a great start. If you're like me at all, the holidays likely put a damper on making cooking fun for just a little while. This week I've started to get back into the swing of things. My apologies for the recent hiatus. I hope that together we can make 2010 a very successful year in the kitchen!
This past week, I decided to make pork, green beans, and salad for dinner one night. Did I mention I'm trying to trim the carbs so that my pants button? At any rate, here's how it went.
I decided to pan sear the pork, prior to baking in the oven until fully cooked. In doing so, I learned a very valuable lesson. While eating the pork, I realized that it was strangely tougher and chewier than pork loins of the recent past. After asking Reid what he thought might be wrong, we realized that the one thing I had done different this time was the pan searing.
Moral of the story... the pork was "strangely tougher and chewier" because the pan searing phase of my prep occurred for too long and at too low a temperature. When pan searing pork, or any other meat for that matter, the key is high temperature, short sear time. The main purpose of searing is to lock in essential juices in the meat. This is quickly accomplished at high temperatures.
It is worth noting that when pan searing with olive oil be certain to use use standard olive oil as opposed to Extra Virgin olive oil. The "Extra Virgin" type has a much lower burn point, and this is critical to be aware of when working with higher pan temperatures than normal.
Don't be afraid to try new things in the kitchen this year. And don't expect that everything I post will be a success story. If it were, I wouldn't be learning anything and I wouldn't be helping to keep you from making the same mistake in your own kitchens.
Have a "sear"iously great weekend!
I hope that your 2010 is off to a great start. If you're like me at all, the holidays likely put a damper on making cooking fun for just a little while. This week I've started to get back into the swing of things. My apologies for the recent hiatus. I hope that together we can make 2010 a very successful year in the kitchen!
This past week, I decided to make pork, green beans, and salad for dinner one night. Did I mention I'm trying to trim the carbs so that my pants button? At any rate, here's how it went.
I decided to pan sear the pork, prior to baking in the oven until fully cooked. In doing so, I learned a very valuable lesson. While eating the pork, I realized that it was strangely tougher and chewier than pork loins of the recent past. After asking Reid what he thought might be wrong, we realized that the one thing I had done different this time was the pan searing.
Moral of the story... the pork was "strangely tougher and chewier" because the pan searing phase of my prep occurred for too long and at too low a temperature. When pan searing pork, or any other meat for that matter, the key is high temperature, short sear time. The main purpose of searing is to lock in essential juices in the meat. This is quickly accomplished at high temperatures.
It is worth noting that when pan searing with olive oil be certain to use use standard olive oil as opposed to Extra Virgin olive oil. The "Extra Virgin" type has a much lower burn point, and this is critical to be aware of when working with higher pan temperatures than normal.
Don't be afraid to try new things in the kitchen this year. And don't expect that everything I post will be a success story. If it were, I wouldn't be learning anything and I wouldn't be helping to keep you from making the same mistake in your own kitchens.
Have a "sear"iously great weekend!
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