1) The duck turned out fantastic and tasted wonderful!

2) I can introduce you to a FANTASTIC food blog that has helped me through a few new experiences in cooking.  Say hello to The Hungry Mouse.  It’s a fantastic food blog with gorgeous pictures and wonderful tutorials.

I knew that roasting a duck would be different from roasting a chicken.  I thank my lucky stars for having already known that.  I’ve heard horror stories of greasy meat, rubbery skin, and way too much fat remaining on the bird.  Because of this, I hit Google and The Hungry Mouse was the #1 response I got.  It’s always nice to see a familiar place when asking a question on Google.

Here is the tutorial on how to roast a duck, or rather, the BEST way to roast a duck.  Yes, it’s time consuming, but WORTH it.  My little duck turned out perfect and I have enough duck fat rendered out to make hash browns on the morning of the 26th.

And boy, am I looking forward to that.

Seriously, if you’re considering roasting a duck, CONSULT THAT LINK!  I cannot stress that enough.  That blogger knows her stuff.

If you’ll remember (HA!  I know better…) back in August I made Chicken L’Orange and expressed my desire to make Orange Duck, or Duck L’Orange for the fancy-pants out there.  Again, if you’ll remember (I keep writing that, but seriously, I know better) I overpaid for a smoked duck last year for the Five Days and was unimpressed.  I knew I wanted to try making a duck all on my own and Orange Duck just sounds so fantastic to me.

It was easier than I thought.

I used the exact same recipe that I used for the Chicken L’Orange except I didn’t stuff the duck with anything (it has to cook for over 4 hours!) but the glaze and sauce were the same.  To make your life easier, I am more than happy to provide a simplified version of the recipe so that you may also someday make homemade Orange Duck.

Orange Glaze/Sauce for Duck or Chicken

Simplified by Me

4 oranges

1 sprig tarragon

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 cups chicken stock

4 peppercorns

1 Tblsp. cornstarch

Peel 1 orange and cut peel in thin strips.  Set aside peel.  Juice all four oranges and add juice to discarded peel.

Dissolve sugar in the vinegar in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Add chicken stock, tarragon, peppercorns and salt to taste.

Add orange juice and orange peel.

Baste the bird during the last half hour of cooking twice in 15-minute intervals.  (Consult the Hungry Mouse on how to cook the duck!)

Dissolve cornstarch in a small amount of water and add to glaze.  When thick, pour into serving bowl and serve with the duck.  (You could, and should, strain the sauce before adding the cornstarch, but I couldn’t be bothered with it and it was fine.  The world didn’t blow up.)

Sweet orange-y duck awaits your pleasure.

Once upon a time I took more pictures of the product.  I photographed the before, during, and after.  I’m sorry the quality of the photography has been so poor, but I am going to plead the two small children under school age thing.  I have a 1 year-old who screams at me from a high chair and a 4 year-old who screams at me from my elbow…..pictures aren’t my #1 concern most days.  I’ll get back to it someday.  Just be patient.

I promised yesterday that I would share a recipe for an Orange Martini.  I hate to think that I made the drink to go with the duck so that everything could me matchy-matchy.  That was not the thought process at ALL. The thought process was more like,

“The juicer is out and I have just enough oranges to make a cocktail!  WOOO!”

Simple as that.

And an Orange Martini is yummy.  It’s weird that I like it considering that I find Screwdrivers (Vodka+Orange Juice) to be repugnant reincarnations of stomach acid.

Orange Martini

Who Needs Credit?  It’s a DRINK!

1 oz. vodka

1/2 oz. Triple Sec

2 oz. orange juice (fresh squeezed really is best here or the acid will probably cause painful and horrible death.)  (Just kidding about the death thing.)  (No I’m not.)

Shake with ice and serve over ice.  There’s nothing worse than warm orange juice, let alone a cocktail containing orange juice.

I know martinis are usually served in those angular stemmed glasses.  And I have those glasses and find them to be very posh, but OH MY GOD they are annoying to drink from some days.  Rock glasses work just fine.  I’m not breaking any rules by doing this, and if I am, it’s a stupid rule!

I hope that you notice in that picture that the drink, adorable vintage juicer, and cocktail shaker are sitting on a plywood surface.  This is because we are doing a total kitchen renovation and have been since about July.  It’s a long and terrible process and only crazy people would do this all on their own.  It just so happens that I’m crazy, so if you should notice my kitchen looking rather destroyed in some pictures, it is because of the renovation.

Tomorrow we eat a ham dinner with my mother and Day Five will be on Christmas Day.  You’re probably going to just have to suffer through a bunch of pictures of my husband and children in their pajamas because on Christmas, we have the same breakfast and dinner every year.

Happy Holidays and I hope that you’re enjoying some lovely food of your own!

Related posts:

1. The 5 Days of Decadence: Day 1
2. Five Days of Decadence: Day Three
3. Five Days of Decadence 2011: Day Two

It sounds all super fancy because the name is French.  It’s not.  It’s chicken braised in red wine.  Whoop-dee-doo!  I braise pork chops like nobody’s business over here, there’s nothing fancy about it!

But is it delicious and heart-warming and decadent all the same?

Yes.  Yes it is.

And it’s not at all pricey to make.  I use reasonably priced wine, chicken isn’t exactly a high-priced food item, and the vegetables are your standard onions and carrots with a bit of mushrooms added in.

Of course, I used Ina Garten’s recipe for this.  I am attracted to Ina’s style of cooking and technique because she takes a “it’s no big deal” approach to cooking types of food that some people might find daunting or intimidating upon a first contemplation.  But when someone offers to help by teaching you or giving you a recipe and are very relaxed and not at all uptight about it, the learning process is much easier without all of the anxiety.  Ina is great with that mentality.

For your pleasure, here is the recipe!

Coq Au Vin

2007, Ina Garten

2 Tblsp. good olive oil

4 oz. good bacon or pancetta, diced

1 (3-4 lb.) chicken, cut in 8ths

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ lb. carrots, cut diagonally in 1-inch pieces

1 yellow onion, sliced

1 tsp. chopped garlic

¼ cup Cognac or good brandy

½ bottle (375 ml) good dry red wine such as Burgundy

1 cup good chicken stock, preferably homemade

10 fresh thyme sprigs

2 Tblsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided

1-1/2 Tblsp. AP flour

½ lb. frozen small whole onions

½ lb. cremini mushrooms, stems removed and thickly sliced

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.  Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven.  Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.  Remove the bacon to a plate with a  slotted spoon.  Meanwhile, lay the chicken out on paper towels and pat dry.  Liberally sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.  When the bacon is removed, brown the chicken pieces in batches in a single layer for about 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly.  Remove the chicken to the plate with the bacon and continue to brown until all the chicken is done.  Set aside.

Add the carrots, onions, 2 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. pepper to the pan and cook over medium heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.  Add the Cognac and put the bacon, chicken, and any juices that collected on the plate into the pot.  Add the wine, chicken stock, and thyme and bring to a simmer.  Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until the chicken is just not pink.  Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.

Mash 1 Tblsp. of butter and the flour together and stir into the stew.  Add frozen onions.  In a medium sauté pan, add the remaining 1 Tblsp. of butter and cook the mushrooms over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes, until browned.  Add to stew.  Bring the stew to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes.  Season to taste.  Serve hot.  YIELD:  3 servings.

Ok, so I did a couple of things different.  Yes, I used bacon.  I NEVER have pancetta on hand at my house, but I always have bacon.  Just simple smoked bacon (NOT maple flavored) does the job just fine.

I also used frozen chicken thighs for the meat instead of a whole chicken cut up.  As long as the meat has bone and skin, it’s going to work JUST fine.

I NEVER have brandy of cognac in my house.  I would never use it except for small splashes in dishes I rarely cook.  I’ve found that a good substitute is sweet mash Kentucky bourbon.  It’s not the same, but in the small amount this recipe calls for, it works FINE.

Cremini mushrooms are so delicious.  They are delicious in this dish.  White button mushrooms are also wonderful in this dish and cost a lot less.  There’s no need to spend a lot of money on a back-up flavor in this dish.

This is not a thick dish at all.  You can either serve it like a stew and serve bread as a side (the broth is HEAVENLY), or you can serve it over rice or egg noodles.  I prefer the egg noodle bed, but it’s all good.

Might I recommend that you end this dinner with a fat slice of Candy Cane Cake?

Tomorrow is the appetizer dinner.  Maybe I will serve it late, after my children have gone to bed.  I think that might be nice.  And, I promise it will be prettier this year than it was last year (can you say “embarrassed part-time food blogger posts major food kludge for shits and giggles only to deeply regret it!”)

Happy Holidays everyone!

Related posts:

1. Five Days of Christmas 2011: Day One
2. 5 Days of Decadence: Day 5…Sort Of…..
3. The 5 Days of Decadence: Day 1

Obviously it has been quite some time since my last posting.  I offer no explanation or excuse.  It is what it is.

However, I have not stopped cooking and, although I am in the middle of a very long kitchen renovation, my kitchen is still quite busy.  I wasn’t going to NOT post about the 5 Days this year…that just wouldn’t be right.

A brief update on my Christmas baking:  I made fudge again this year and am happy to report that there were no dramas and there were no scary kitchen fires!  I also tried my hand at making homemade taffy and was surprised at how easy it was.  I’ll share that recipe and the details later.  Other than those things, I haven’t strayed too much from my usual yearly stuff, which is ok.  I’m enjoying this holiday season!

This year’s 5 Days is pretty simple, actually.  Of course, Christmas day will be the usual breakfast torte and lamb chops.  Christmas Eve will be spent at my mother’s house, so that’s one day that won’t count.  Also, my husband will be attending a holiday party in Philadelphia this week which is 2 hours away and means he won’t be eating dinner here at home.  So, the 5 Days started tonight.  I went a little off my usual map and made fish tonight.  A white fish.

Let it be known far and wide that I am NOT a fan of most white fish.  I typically find them to taste a bit like dirt or other unpleasant things.  My favorite fish is salmon.  However, I made a black bass tonight for dinner and it was delightful.  Seriously, I’m not just saying that.  I had two servings, which I almost NEVER do when it’s a white fish.

When approaching something that I normally don’t like food-wise, I’m always thinking on how to make the flavor sing a bit more.  Certainly, there are some foods that require little to no finesse and really are at their best when cooked and served simply.  But seeing how I don’t really care for the taste of whitefish, I was very concerned with making the taste a bit more substantial and aromatic.  I’m explaining myself because you might wonder what the heck I was thinking when you read the recipe.  Anchovies are involved.

Just bear with me and have a little trust, alright?  I promise it’s a good ride.

Black Bass with Anchovy-Garlic Paste

My Recipe

1 3-pound black bass (or some other white fish of similar size) whole, scaled and cleaned

2 cloves garlic

4 anchovy filets

1 tsp. fresh thyme

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. olive oil

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Place fish on foil.

Make a paste of the garlic, anchovies, thyme, salt, pepper and olive oil and put it inside of the belly cavity of the fish.  Also stuff the cavity with the onion and lemon slices.

Rub a small amount of oil on the skin of the fish and sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Voila, you have an eerily aromatic and tasty fish.

It’s no big deal if you would rather not have a face on your plate.  Just have your fish-monger cut the head and fins off for you.

The anchovies serve to give the taste a bit more of a meaty flavor (and SALT, don’t forget the GOBS OF SALT).  They melt away in the cooking process and you can’t even pick out their taste among the natural taste of the bass.  It was very pleasant.  It wasn’t an overwhelming taste and the true flavor of the fish wasn’t lost, although I wouldn’t have been sad if that had happened.  It simply gave the fish a better, more harmonious flavor.  (Sorry, my adjectives are on vacation and I’m stuck with a set of overused ones!)  I really hope you give this a try, especially if you hate white-fleshed fish like I do.  It doesn’t have to be battered and fried to kill that yucky flavor.  Sometimes a tiny fish with a bad reputation as a defiler of pizzas can help.

Tomorrow is Coq Au Vin.  It’s not really a fancy schmancy meal, but it makes GREAT leftovers and is actually pretty easy to make.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Related posts:

1. Fish Stew
2. 5 Days of Decadence: Day 2
3. 5 Days of Decadence: Day 5…Sort Of…..

I gotta say, Philly, I’m not in love.

Philly cheesesteaks ARE good.  Don’t get me wrong.  There’s nothing like some shaved steak smothered in grilled onions and cheese, but I’ve gotta say I’ve had better.

Oh, and Cheez Whiz must be something you had to grow up eating on your cheese steak to like.  It’s far too salty for me.  But don’t think I’m bashing the cheese steak.  I like being in an area where culinary pride comes from a humble and tasty sandwich.

But the cheese steak (as I am led to believe) has Italian origins.  Well, let an Irish girl who grew up in an Italian town in West Virginia put her two cents in the well.

I grew up eating Steak Hoagies.  In Clarksburg WV, home of one of the better Italian Heritage Festivals you’re likely to encounter and the best fresh made Italian bread, we eat Steak Hoagies.

A Steak Hoagie is 18 inches long, has shaved steak, onions and cheese as well as Italian style peppers we all know simply as Oliverio Peppers.  It’s a lot like a cheese steak.

Steak Hoagie

My Recipe (but used and loved all over Clarksburg, WV)

Shaved beef steak (most grocery butchers have this, or you could use frozen steak umms, either will work)

Hoagie Buns (Here in PA, they only come in 12 inches.  In Clarksburg, get yourself an 18 incher!)

1 large onion, sliced

1 Tblsp. oil

salt and pepper

1 16-oz. jar Oliverio Peppers (You can get any jarred Italian style peppers, but Oliverio’s has a website!)

1/2 lb. Provolone cheese (yes, it has to be Provolone!)

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat.  Add oil.  Add onions and cook until soft and starting to brown.

Next add the shaved steak.  I used about 5 lbs. and this will make 4 12-inch sandwiches.  Cook in the hot pan and add salt and pepper to taste.

When the meat is browned, it’s time to add the peppers.  Add the whole jar!

Just stir together until combined and hot.

Now, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Stuff the buns with the meat mixture and place on the prepared sheet pan.  Place cheese over the sandwiches.

Put under a broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Now insert into face-hole and enjoy!

Another great thing about these is that it is a super fast meal to make.  15-20 minutes and you have dinner on the table.  You can serve it with french fries (drizzle Cheez Whiz on THOSE!  Now that’s good!) or just eat the sandwiches alone.  Either way, you will waddle away from the table feeling very satisfied.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Elastic Waistband Meatloaf and Creamy Broccoli
2. Fruit and Cheese Platter
3. The Great Chili Debate: With or Without Beans?

Not that I don’t like a little pomp now and then.

My favorite thing to get when I order Chinese takeout is Orange Chicken and I was curious what a roasted orange glazed chicken would taste like.  It’s good.  It really is!

This recipe is a pain in the ass to read, though.  There’s too much “blah blah” and it’s too lengthy when it doesn’t really need to be. But I got through it and had a very nice meal at the end of it.

So here is the recipe as it appears in that old cookbook.  Good luck.

Chicken L’Orange

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking (1986)

2 fryers

Salt

6 oranges

3 sprigs of tarragon

1 garlic clove, cut in half

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup red wine vinegar

2 cups chicken stock

4 peppercorns

1 Tblsp. cornstarch

Watercress

Sprinkle cavity of each chicken with ½ tsp. salt; hook wing tips into back.

Remove peel of 1 orange with vegetable peeler.  Cut peel into long strips; reserve for sauce.

Squeeze juice from 4 oranges; reserve juice for sauce.  Cut 2 of the squeezed oranges into small chunks.  Fill each chicken cavity with orange chunks and 1 sprig tarragon.  Tie legs together with string; tie legs and tail together.  Rub each chicken with garlic; place chickens in shallow roasting pan.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes per pound.

Stir sugar and vinegar together in saucepan; bring to boiling point, stirring until sugar is dissolved.  Reduce heat, simmer for about 5 minutes or until thickened.  Add chicken stock, remaining tarragon, peppercorns and salt to taste; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add reserved orange juice.  Strain sauce into bowl; add reserved orange peel.

Baste chickens frequently with sauce during last 30 minutes of baking.  Remove chickens from pan onto heated serving platter; remove string and cavity filling.  Stir small amount of water into cornstarch; stir into remaining orange sauce in saucepan.  Cook, stirring constantly, until clear and thickened.  Garnish chickens with slices of remaining oranges and watercress; serve with sauce.  YIELD:  8 servings.

I have this really cool citrus peeler that I used to get the peel off of the oranges already in strips.  I cut out a step and got to use a tool I usually only use when making adult beverages.

Pretty sweet, huh?

It’s a lovely bird when it comes out.  And holy crap, the smell is amazing.  I’m posting this recipe because I really think you ought to try it.  It’s definitely worth it.  I’d like to try this with duck.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Beer Can Chicken
2. Roast Chicken and Vegetables
3. Beer Marinated Chicken

No, no, no.  That’s not what this is.  It’s a beef stew recipe that caters to my beloved Martians.  It’s got “Kentucky” in the name because of my affinity for cooking with Kentucky bourbon and it’s place in this recipe.  See?  Not quite as sinister as it may seem to my fellow twisted minds.

Kentucky Martian-Man Stew

My Recipe

2 lbs. stew meat

2 cups flour

canola oil

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

5 carrots, diced

4 stalks celery, diced

3 tblsp. tomato paste

1 cup Kentucky bourbon (I prefer a sour mash in this recipe.)  *Maker’s Mark*  <–not a paid endorsement!

1 Tblsp. rosemary

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. parsley

6 cups stock (3 cups chicken 3 cups beef)

3 cups water

Salt and pepper the stew meat and then dredge it in the flour.  Add oil to a dutch oven over medium heat and add the stew meat a little at a time and brown.  Place the browned meat on a place and set aside.

Add a bit more oil to the pot and add onion.  Cook until soft and add garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Add carrots and celery and cook until fragrant.  Pour in bourbon (if you are cooking on a gas stove, turn the flame off or move the pot away from the flame before adding the alcohol) and deglaze the pan.  Add tomato paste.

Put the meat back into the pan.  Add stock and water.  Add herbs and taste broth to see if it needs more salt and pepper.

Cook over medium heat for 45 minutes.  Let sit off of heat for 15 minutes and enjoy.

When all is said and done, it really is just a beef stew recipe.  But it’s a good beef stew recipe.  I hope you give it a try.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Beef Stew: The Perfect Cold Weather Warmer
2. Fish Stew
3. Bourbon Braised Pork Chops

This recipe, being a recipe of my own making, is not necessarily a new take on pork roasts.  It is actually very traditional, but DAMN it is good.  I might be a little biased but hey!  I can admit when I demolish a recipe and come up with a recipe that is just awful.  Ever wonder why I haven’t yet posted a barbecue sauce recipe yet?  That’s a hard code to crack!!

Mustard and Herb Crusted Pork Roast

My Recipe

1 pork loin roast (about 5 lbs.)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1-1/2 Tblsp. coarse grain mustard

1 Tblsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tblsp. Canola oil

2 Tsp. dried tarragon

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.  (Don’t be afraid of the high heat.  Read on and trust Somer!)

Put the pork roast on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Mix all of the ingredients (except for the pork roast) in a bowl and rub onto the pork roast.

Put the pork roast in the oven and cook on 425 degrees F for 10 minutes.  (This helps make that mustard crust become….well…”crusty” instead of “runny”)  After 10 minutes, drop the heat to 350 and cook for 2 hours.

Make sure to let the meat rest for 15-20 minutes.

I like to serve roasted meats with roasted vegetables.  I roasted potatoes with onions and carrots.

What was great about this night was my children went to bed early (they were sick) and I was able to make an impromptu romantic dinner for myself and my husband.  On a Tuesday.  It was awesome.

This meal was also awesome.  God, the crust on that meat was fan-f*cking-tastic.  And aren’t those the prettiest carrots?

Even if it is a bit boring and not very adventurous, I hope you try this recipe.  Maybe use it as an excuse to have your own impromptu romantic meal on a Tuesday.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Bourbon Braised Pork Chops
2. Roast Chicken and Vegetables
3. Pad Thai Heaven (Or Hell…)

I am a person who has no guide (erh, besides the internet) to navigate my way through the “healthy food” world.  I’ve found more horrifyingly bland and nightmarishly textured food than anything that I’d consider eating again.  I’m not against healthy eating of even vegetarian dishes, I’m just very inexperienced in that area.    But you know what?  Tabbouleh is really good because you can fuss with it and make it a million different ways.  You can make it vegetarian, vegan, or omnivorous.  And it’s really good.

I know we are now in the middle of July, but I have been slacking hardcore on my posting here (two sons!  I plead the two sons defense!) so while the recipe I am about to post is delicious, it is definitely a cold-weather dish.  Oh well, it will give those of you melting in intense heat the urge to look forward to blood-freezing temperatures that force you to snuggle up in your domicile and make delicious food.

This recipe is a one dish meal.  It has a little meat, vegetables, and lots of luscious whole grains.  It’s fantastic.

Full-Meal Tabbouleh

My Recipe

3 cups bulgur wheat

2 cups boiling water

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 large yellow onion, sliced

1-1/2 cups diced carrot

1 14.5 0z. can of diced tomatoes

1 14 oz. can tomato sauce

3 cups chicken stock

1-2 cups cooked chicken chunks

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp. dill to place on top of dish when serving

The first thing you need to do is cook the bulgur wheat.

Put the bulgur wheat into a large bowl.  Pour 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil over it and then the boiling water.  Cover the bowl with a thick, clean kitchen towel and let the bowl steam for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, put a skillet over medium-low heat.  Pour in 1 Tablespoon olive oil and add the sliced onion.  Cook slowly.  What we’re going to do with these babies is caramelize them!

Fresh in the pan…..

TA-DAH!  15 minutes of careful cooking and stirring and you get these beautifully caramelized onions!

Now we need to cook those carrots.  You can nuke them in a microwave or boil them, but I really like steaming things.  So choose your preferred method and get those babies soft.

My carrots enjoyed a nice sauna.

I know that this dish looks really involved and complicated but all we’re doing is cooking the ingredients individually and then assembling them.

That doesn’t look too crazy, does it?  I love the sight of a busy stove-top.

Now get your favorite soup pot or dutch oven and put in the chicken stock, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes and get them nice and simmering.

Drain any excess liquid from the bulgur wheat and add it (the bulgur wheat, not the excess liquid) to the simmering liquid.  Add the carrots and onions.  Salt and pepper the mess to taste (that means you actually have to taste this in order to know if it’s up to par for you).

Now add the cooked chicken.  I don’t know how you plan to come across the cooked chicken, it’s entirely up to you.  This entire dish was thought up as a way to use up leftover meat on roast chicken carcasses.

Not so pretty after a couple days in the fridge, eh?

Add the chicken to the mess.  heat through and serve up.  Add a plop of dill on the top.  The dill cuts through the richness of the dish and adds a great taste when stirred in.

I know this dish has a lot of ingredients and it seems really involved and time-consuming.  It certainly isn’t a half-hour-to-the-table meal, but I probably only put in 45 minutes of work total.  While the bulgur wheat was steaming I was caramelizing the onions and steaming the carrots.  It all happens pretty quick actually so please don’t be intimidated.  I’m not talented enough to come up with a really complex recipe.

When the cold weather comes around again, I hope you give this dish a try.  Omit the chicken and replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock and you’ve got a terrific Meatless Monday dish as well!

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Spaghetti Pie
2. Red Beans and Rice
3. Beer Can Chicken

But the newness of it is over for the season.  It was time to start making things a bit more complicated.  Things that would have my neighbors turning their noses in my home’s direction, following the intoxicating aroma of some masterfully prepared hunk of meat cooking on my grill.

And also, the smell of the masterfully prepared food on the grill is ALWAYS being cooked by someone with breasts and a uterus.  Someone who has delivered two strong sons into this world.  Someone who, unlike the man of the house, knows how to make food that is at least edible.  The man of this house tends to take a mad scientist approach to cooking and it never ends well.  A WOMAN grills here.

Back to the topic at hand!  Beer Can Chicken is something that my husband has wanted to try for a very long time and I’d be lying if I said I weren’t really curious about it too.  The thing is, I sort of assumed that it was one of those “guy things” that go hand-in-hand with summer-time grilling.  I thought that maybe it was such a big deal because it was a way for man-grillers to show off some cooking skills with something other than brats, weiners, steaks, and burgers.  And the fact that it involves a half-consumed can of beer definitely screamed MALE BRAGGING RIGHTS to me.

To all the men-folk out there who are proud to prepare this dish with skill (and the women who do so as well, just not as loudly as the men) I apologize.  Apparently you people know your stuff.

I am a marinator (is that a word?  Well it is now!).  I marinated the chicken before violating it with the beer can and grilling it.  Here is how I did it.

Damn Good Beer Can Chicken

My Recipe

1 small whole chicken (4-5 lbs.)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup hot sauce (I used Tabasco)

1 Tblsp. honey

1 tsp. chili powder

1 Tblsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. each of salt and pepper

1 can of beer filled half-way

Combine all of the ingredients (except the beer and chicken) in a large bag.  Add chicken and coat with marinade.  Marinate overnight for at least 12 hours, turning occasionally.

Preheat your grill.  The chicken needs to cook over indirect heat.  If you are using a charcoal grill, get your coals hot and then spread them out the the edges of the grill so that the chicken can sit in the middle.  If you are using a gas grill, light half the burners and set the chicken over the dormant burners.

Put the beer can into the bottom of the chicken.  The indelicate way to explain this is to just tell you to put the beer can up the chicken’s butt…or where the butt used to be.  Use the chickens legs along with the beer can as a tripod to sit the chicken up.  Like this:

Getting the chicken on and off the grill can be a little tricky.  Just get a big metal spatula and put it under the can and use a hand to steady the bird.  Move the thing carefully to the grill and arrange it in the tripod position again.  It’s the same routine to get it off the grill, only this time use a towel or oven mitt to protect the hand steadying the chicken on the spatula.

This chicken will need to cook in the grill for about an hour and a half. (If you are using a gas grill, keep the heat to a medium low.) Don’t check it for the first hour.  Don’t lift the lid of your grill, don’t stand around and wait.  Go do something else for that first hour and just let it do it’s thing.

When the hour is over, check the chicken.  Most likely it will not be done.  Check for doneness by slicing open a thigh deep to the bone.  If the juices run clear it’s done.  If the juices are pink, it needs to cook longer.  Like I said, it takes about an hour and a half.

When the cooking is done, remove it from the heat, wrap it in foil (beer can still in butt) and let it rest for AT LEAST 10 minutes but 20 is better.

Unwrap the chicken and remove the can from it’s butt.  There is no unmessy way to do this as the skin of the chicken and the meat inside of the chicken are closed in on the can and it is slightly stuck.  It will not just slip out if you lift the chicken.  Since it is a small bird, if you can find the dexterity to lift the bird with both hands and use your pinky and ring fingers to slide the beer can out while holding it up, that would be great.  OR you could hold the bird over the sink, turn it upside down and let the contents of the beer can empty through the neck hole, place the bird on it’s back and take the can out that way.  If you’re an easy way out person or a “Look how dexterous I am” person, one of these options will work for you.

I’d be lying if I said that the immature idiot in me didn’t laugh looking at this.  But, aside from having the beer steam the bird, another good thing about having a metal can in the carcass is that it helps cook the meat on the inside nicely.

This bird was DELICIOUS.  Now I get all the hubbub.  It’s really freaking good.  It was juicy, flavorful and tender.  It was everything a grilled chicken should be.  And thanks to the marinade, the skin was slap-your-momma good.  This has now become something I will be making on the grill several times during the summer, EVERY summer.

Look, you’re lucky you got a picture with skin still intact.

I hope you try this.  It’s delicious.  It’s tricky getting the bird on and off the grill with the beer can up it’s butt, but once you get past all of that and actually eat it, you too will understand.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Beer Marinated Chicken
2. Chili Lime Chicken and Roasted Asparagus
3. An Adult Talk About Beer

Then I realized that there had to be other ways to prepare them.  There’s more than one way to prepare a chicken.  There’s more than one way to prepare a steak.  There MUST be more than one way to prepare a pork chop.  Since that fairly obvious epiphany of mine (I am often the last horse to finish the race, folks…don’t let the blog fool you) I have discovered that pork chops can be baked, breaded, and even braised.  YES.  And they are delightful in all their forms.

I typically use the boneless tenderloin chops for breading since it is a really quick prep.  But the big cheap chops with the bone?  Those suckers do well with a braise.  The great thing about meat bones is that they lend so much flavor to liquids and it’s almost a crime not to prepare meat containing a bone in a way that doesn’t take advantage of that flavor.

Note: This is a great recipe for Martians as well!

Bourbon Braised Pork Chops

My Recipe

2 large bone-in pork chops

3 Tblsp. olive oil

1/3 cup AP flour

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

2 carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1/2 cup bourbon

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 Tblsp. Worcestershire sauce

3 cups chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Preheat a large dutch oven on the stove top over medium heat.  Heat the olive oil.

Dredge the pork chops in the flour, shaking off any excess.

Drop pork chops into hot oil and cook only long enough to brown the outsides.  Do not cook all the way through.

When the chops are browned, let them rest on a plate.  Add onions to the flour and stir until soft.  Add garlic and cook only for a moment so as not to burn the garlic.  Add carrots and celery next and cook only for a moment.  Next add bourbon to deglaze the pot, stirring vigorously to get any brown bits off of the bottom of the pot.

Add applesauce, chicken stock, salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Return pork chops to the pot.  Bring the liquid to a very gentle simmer and then prepare your pot to go into the oven.  If you have a glazed cast iron pot, you are lucky and need not prepare the pot, just put it in the oven.  If you have a pot that has plastic handles and knobs, wrap the places that are not heat safe well in aluminum foil.

It looks a little like a UFO, but it gets the job done just fine.

Put the pan in the oven and cook for 45 minutes to an hour.

While it’s in the oven, make a side dish that will soak up that braising liquid (you won’t want to waste it).  I made couscous with cranberries.

When it comes out of the oven, the meat will fall apart and the braising liquid will be sticky and fatty and delicious.  It’s a great deviation from dry fried pork chops.

It really is delicious and I hope you give it a try.

Note: This recipe calls for using only 2 large pork chops, but the amount of liquid that this recipe makes can easily allow for 4 medium sized pork chops.

A note on bourbon:  I use bourbon in my cooking quite a lot.  I don’t really care for drinking bourbon but I love to cook with it.  It adds a sort of richness and complex depth of flavor.  I use Kentucky bourbon and ONLY Kentucky bourbon.  I keep two on hand, a sweet mash and a sour mash.  The sweet mash is a good and cheap substitute for recipes that call for brandy or cognac in the cooking and the sour mash is good in this particular recipe, but feel free to play around with it.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Braised Lamb Shanks and Risotto
2. Pad Thai Heaven (Or Hell…)
3. Red Beans and Rice