Beer Can Chicken

 Beer + Chicken + Roasted Chile's = Great Summer Meal

A few years ago while visiting my buddy,  Dave La Rue,  in Minneapolis  for his 50th birthday celebration, I caught a segment on public TV about " Beer Can Chicken."   It looked fantastic so I came home and researched this BBQ oddity on the internet.  Like most of my recipes, this is a merge of the best and has been refined over the years through trial and error along with feedback from family and friends.

What makes this method stand out is the fresh rosemary, lemon zest and liberal use of red pepper flakes.  The first couple of times I did this I had to put the chicken back on the grill so be careful.  Make sure your chicken is pulling away from the bone and the juices are running clear prior to serving.

Ingredients- 
Chicken first, then Rub...


1 Whole Roasting Chicken (4-5 pounds)
1 Twelve ounce can of your favorite beer
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 Cloves of minced garlic
3-4 Sprigs of Fresh Rosemary cut to fit in the can
1 Teaspoon dried Thyme
1 Tablespoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1 Lemon Quartered


Rub
1 teaspoon Szeged Hot Paprika
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Garlic Salt
1 Tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 Tablespoon Fresh Chopped Rosemary
1 teaspoon dried Thyme
1 teaspoon fresh ground Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Zest of one whole Lemon


 Note-  I make this rub in large quantities and hold back the lemon zest and fresh rosemary until  the day I make my chicken.  It will keep in a good mason jar for several months and I usually make a good batch of it at the beginning of summer.


Remove the giblets etc. from the chicken, rinse well and pat dry with a paper towel.  Sprinkle liberal amounts of the rub all over the chicken both inside and out and set aside.  Open your beer can with an old style church key and pour out or drink about half the beer.  Fill the beer can with garlic cloves, spices, olive oil and and cut up lemon.  Place Chicken on top of beer can.   Ray, Cherie's dad and my grilling mentor, bought me a couple of really cool stainless steel stands just for this dish and I believe they were purchased at Cost Plus but can be found online.  For what it's worth, Ray fondly refers to this as "beer in the butt chicken"...enough said.

Old Smokey BCCH, Silver Beer Can Chicken Holder

$7

This very cool and inexpensive device keeps both the chicken and beer can stable simplifying the whole process.  Though not mandatory, quite useful and a must if you become addicted .


Preheat grill and place chickens over indirect medium heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until your instant read thermometer reads 160-180 degrees in the thickest part of the bird. I use a disposable aluminum pan for easy clean up but be very careful as you can't lift the pan off the grill with the bird inside as the pans tend to be flimsy and will collapse.


We served our drunken birds with a nice pasta salad  mixed with, fresh roasted green chile's, tomatoes, thinly sliced red onions and Feta Cheese.  Sprinkle the salad with some fresh chopped cilantro and drizzle with olive oil  and red wine vinegar and voila: instant cool summer salad compliments of Cherie.


Let the bird rest for at least 5 minutes before carving and enjoy!

The Final Product is Juicy and Delicious!

Rhinoceros Cafe, Coronado California

My family has been coming to Coronado Island for more than twenty years and we simply love the place.  It's a quick one hour plane ride from Tucson and the drive is a "not too long" six hours.  Coronado has a frozen in time quality to it with the storied Hotel Del Coronado as its cornerstone along with a drug store like the one in the neighborhood you grew up in all the way to the greasy spoon breakfast joint complete with booths too small to fit in and a juke box with "You've lost that Lovin' Feeling" blaring upon arrival.

Last night we visited one of our favorite haunts called " The Rhinoceros Cafe" and once again, we were not disappointed.  It's located on Orange Ave.  just a few blocks up from the Del and we were quite happy to be able to make a reservation for six at 8:00PM.  We were joined by our longtime friends the Hameroff's  who have a beautiful  home on the island and it would be impossible to say whether the food or the company was superior.

The Rhinoceros  has both indoor and cafe like, sidewalk seating and we chose inside.  The menu is a bit eclectic but leans in favor of seafood and pasta and after several visits we have yet to be disappointed.   My daughter Meghan opted for Penne a La Vodka  and it was simply fantastic.  Perfectly seasoned marinara with just the right amount of spice and penne pasta prepared to an "al dente" perfection.  Cherie and I both ordered the Green Lip Mussels in a light tomato sauce with generous amounts of fresh garlic, thinly slice mushrooms and loads of fresh basil and I must say it was truly off the charts!  The mushrooms were an unexpected but scrumptious touch along with a "not too thick and not too thin" broth  over a bed of spaghetti and I think I could easily eat another batch for breakfast as I sit here an write about it.  Tara was a bit full from the appetizers at the Hameroff  house so she ordered the lobster Bisque which was creamy, and slightly sweetened with just the right amount of sherry and tasted like liquid lobster velvet on the tongue.  David had the trout which was, to my surprise and delight, pink in color and  perfectly prepared.

Unfortunately we did not have room for the Tiramisu desert but I can tell you from past experience it too is sweet and succulent.

Prices are reasonable for an establishment of this stature ranging from entrees' in the teens up to the mid thirty dollar range.  The wine list is simple but well populated with some of my favorites and we had a bottle of the Stags Leap 2007 Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon which was as bold and well balanced as ever.

The atmosphere is typical San Diego with folks dining in flip flops and others wearing sport coats to ward off the slight chill and cool ocean breezes we all love so much here in Coronado.  I have dined all over the island and there is a lot of great food here but the one place I would recommend you not miss is The Rhinoceros Cafe.

Bon Appetit!

Murph's BBQ Chicken and Ribs

It's important to have a good rub and a good BBQ Sauce in your repertoire.  


Rubs can be bought and are usually quite good and it's also really easy to buy a commercial BBQ sauce and give it your own mark.   Needless to say, I like to dabble in all sorts of flavors and also like more spice than most folks so I like doing both the rubs and the sauce in larger quantities, in advance and have an ample supply in the freezer and the spice closet.

Here's the Rub...


1 Cup Hungarian Hot Paprika (SZEGED)
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Ground White Pepper
2 Tbsp Ground Black Pepper
2 Tbsp XX Hot New Mexico Dark Red Chili Powder
1/4 Cup Kosher Salt
2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp Onion Powder
1 Tbsp Dried Thyme
1 Tbsp Dried Rosemary
1 Tbsp Dried Mustard


Blend all ingredients in a mixing bowl and store in a mason jar if you don't use it all.  Like most of my recipes it's like the "Pirate Code" and is more of a guideline than a precise recipe.  You can add more Paprika if you don't like it as smoky or add more brown sugar if you like it sweeter.  If you can't find the really good NM chili powder, substitute Cayenne Pepper in a smaller quantity.  Occasionally I will make a giant batch of this  and have it around for a good long time.  Experiment, have fun, put your own mark on everything you make!




Now The BBQ Sauce...


I got this one out of a recipe booklet with my first Weber Charcoal Grill over 25 years ago and have changed it only modestly...it is perfect with pork or chicken.
4 tbsp butter
1 cup finely chopped celery
One small finely chopped yellow onion
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1 1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce
Juice of one whole lemon
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoon dry mustard
Several Dashes of Trappey's Louisiana Hot Sauce
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Pinch of Kosher Salt


In  a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add celery and onion and cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining ingredients and whisk together. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Makes about 3 cups.


BBQ Baby Back Pork Ribs and BBQ Chicken


I like to rub the ribs and the chicken first thing in the morning.  I got these rubbed and in the frig by about 7:00AM and didn't put them in the oven until about 3:30.


Ingredients and Steps
2 Whole Racks of Baby Back Pork Ribs
15 Chicken Drumsticks
15 Chicken Wings
Dry Rub
BBQ Sauce


Rub the Chicken and Ribs early in the day or the night before, place in a large baking dish and cover with foil.  Let them absorb all those great flavors for hours and hours.


About 3-4 hours prior to dinner place chicken and ribs in the 275 degree oven.  Leave 'em alone and let cook for at least three hours.  About an hour before cranking up your grill, check both the ribs and chicken and poke with a long tined fork.  If they seem done, let them continue to cook slowly, if not, turn up the heat to 325 degrees and let them cook for another 30-45 minutes.


Heat your grill to medium low heat if it's a gas grill of if you are using charcoal let the coals burn down a bit prior to adding the ribs and chicken.


Remove the meats from the oven and place on the grill covered and keep a very close eye on them. It is really important to avoid fat dripping off your meats and flaring up.  Do not allow the meats to burn or blacken excessively.   Turn the meats occasionally and don't add the sauce until the last two turns.  Commercial BBQ Sauces and the sauce I've included above tend to be contain a enough sugar that they burn easily.  There's nothing worse then perfect meat with burned BBQ Sauce so be really, really careful.  On the final turn reduce heat to the lowest possible setting and add liberal amounts of the sauce.  Once the sauce adheres and becomes slightly sticky, turn again and repeat the process with liberal amounts of sauce.  

Remove from grill, slice ribs into individual portions with a large knife and serve on a big platter with a side of the BBQ sauce! 


We like baked beans and cole slaw with this dish and it is a great meal for a large crowd. This batch served 12 hearty eaters and we had three pieces of chicken left over and the ribs were history!

When it was all over we celebrated with some big sparklers in the back yard!

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