Wednesday, September 17, 2008

looks like torture, tastes like chicken

i bought a whole chicken the other week because i love how they taste when properly cooked and you can properly cook one in so many ways, it's pretty hard to mess up. plus, i get so burned out on chicken breasts and tenderloins...it just isn't the same when it comes piecemeal. i've done the lemons, onions, oranges, herbs, etc. stuffed in the skin and cavity, but i was looking for something new. since grilling season is coming to a close and i'd heard about bear can chicken, i though i'd give it a go.

raw, cleaned chicken. mmmmm

you start with a whole chicken. wash it off , dry it and take out all the innards and feed the good stuff to your dogs. side note: a tiny chicken liver does not take a whole minute to cook in the microwave. also, if you put a tiny chicken liver in the microwave for a whole minute, it will explode.

all rubbed up

basic beer can chicken (recipe adapted from the splendid table.com)
1 whole chicken
1 can of beer, half full 
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c paprika
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil

1. wash and dry chicken
2. mix dry ingredients
3. rub oil all over bird and cover with dry rub - coat heavily
4. stand bird upright and stick bear can into cavity
5. grill upright until golden brown and 180 F, about 1 1/2 hours (allow to rest before carving)

 
grill baby, grill (omg rnc ::pokes eyes out::)

this chicken with its oil coating got a little too toasty. its backside fired right up and crisped in matter of minutes. so husband removed the bird form the grill and we finished him off in the oven. i kept the thermometer in and took the chicken out when it was about 180 F...i have no idea how much time it was on the grill and in the oven.

you might also see that the chicken is sitting on a pink can - specifically, it's a grapefruit soda with cane sugar can. we don't have canned beer, only bottles, so i bought a single can of soda and drank it. then husband drank half a bottled beer and poured the rest into the soda can. i'm not sure that this is important for you to know, but just in case that pink "beer" can was getting you confused, i thought i'd clear things up.

crispeh

the burned skin wasn't super tasty, but this chicken was some of the best i've ever had. i don't drink beer and cannot stand the taste, but that half full can of beer did magical things to the bird. seriously, finger licking grood. plus, you don't need to eat all that skin anyway. and if it wouldn't have burned, i know i would have ripped it all off and done just that.

even if it's winter and you can't grill, this is worth doing in the oven. just posting these pictures makes me want more. we had the leftovers the next day in chicken on white (whole grain!) bread with mayo and salt and pepper and i was in heaven. in fact, i'm licking the computer screen right now.

1 comments:

Thomas said...

that's hilarious.