Easy and Indecent Beer Can Chicken

We're going to make this quick and dirty. Tonight it's time to molest some chickens. Don't worry, they want it this way, and so do you. There are many variations on "Beer Can Chicken." Some do it in the oven, some on the grill, and some in so many different ways it makes your head want to spin. Most use beer, others use salad dressing, and still others use a can of baked beans that they then pair with the chicken after cooking. Whatever you choose, this is a pretty basic and fool proof way to cook chicken. If you are a girl still waiting to approach the grill, this is a great starting point. ANYONE can do this. If you can't, email me so I can laugh help you. In real life, you can do this. If you need some help with something TELL ME.

Look, this idiot did it. you can too!

For the purposes of this blog, let's just consider me a Beer Can Chicken traditionalist. I set out to do my Beer Can Chicken on the grill using actual beer. Call me crazy, but I like to master the basics before branching out and ruining dinner (again). They do make a stand for the chicken that you can buy, but I like to live dangerously and the chicken with the can stuck up it's rear actually creates a nice little tripod.

Here I am... I had a whole fryer that I picked up from the farmer's market. Since these chickens are not pumped full of hormones and other crazies, they are a nice small size that is easy for two people to split for dinner. Meet my chicken. We'll call her Sharon. I have no idea why.

I was kind of surprised to find that Sharon did not have her organs in a neat little bag inside of her belly. I was also surprised to find that cluck still had her neck. At least they took the head. It's the little things. Really. 

Next I found a beer in a can. It was kind of hard. I never realized how many bottles we have. Pop the top and drink (or if you want to be totally chaste about it, throw out) half of the beer. 

Hello Beer.

Pick up ole Sharon (the chicken) and rinse her off in some water in the sink, patting her dry. Then pick out your favorite dry rub. I like Uncle Chris' Gourmet Steak Seasoning. On everything. Especially steak and chicken.

After rubbing the chicken you are going to prepare to shove the beer can where the sun don't shine. Take a deep breath and tell the chicken to spread 'em. 

"You might feel a slight pinch"

See what I said about a natural tripod? Who needs a stand, really?

I had my grill heating up on high heat. When I brought the chicken out I turned off one of the burners and kept the rest running medium high, somewhere around 350 to 400 degrees. It is best to cook the chicken with indirect heat, so you don't want to have it directly over the fire or burners. I have a gas grill, and on any grill really you need to make sure the chicken set up on the beer can will fit with the grill top closed. You might have to remove a rack. In a charcoal grill you will need to make sure the coals are positioned so that you can have the chicken on indirect heat. 

 

I settled Sharon in and closed the top. About thirty minutes later... it started to rain. I called S to see if it was possible to grill in the rain. Apparently it is frowned upon. Quick as lightening I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and got ready to make a switch. After thirty minutes on the grill, Sharon was looking pretty chill.

Word

Using some tongs and an oven mitt, I transferred Sharon to a baking sheet and brought her inside to move into the oven. 

Totally relaxed in the oven.

After 30 additional minutes in the oven, I took the chicken out to cool. We were about to eat it, so it loses it's catchy name. I should have called it "Dinner." 

I really like how the chicken looks like it's sitting on a stool relaxing.

We removed the can and threw it away. That can is nasty. You don't want to keep it. This is why I don't understand the baked beans version of Beer Can Chicken. Once you remove the can, the chicken looks really violated. It's ok, you are about to carve it into pieces. It will get better. 

Violation

And finally, your chicken is cooked.

This one was amazing. I don't know if it was a size bonus or what, it makes me hungry for it all over again. Another cooking trick you can do with this (if you like BBQ chicken) is basting it with your favorite sauce or marinade the last ten minutes of cooking. Of course, that works much better on the grill than in the oven. S does this a lot for foolproof BBQ Chicken. I think it's less messy overall and less expensive. Most of the time buying a whole fryer (or Broiler or Roaster... aka a whole chicken) is less expensive or the same cost as buying three breasts. And who doesn't love drumsticks? Tell me. I'm going to get them! 

Basic cooking for the beer can chicken is 1 hour on the grill on indirect heat with the coals or other burners burning on high heat to maintain 350 - 400 degrees. I'm not sure the exact science of doing it in the oven, I kind of winged it. But if you can't do a grill, the oven seemed just as easy. I'm sure you could google an easy Beer Can Chicken in the Oven recipe. 

Back to food. It feels so good. Go cook your chicken!

-RT

The Easy Bake Oven is Heating Up

I just had to search "vintage easy bake oven" to find the one I had. Effffff.

 L recently received a play kitchen and she is LOVING it. It reminds me about how much I loved my Easy Bake Oven and my most treasured play iron and ironing board. Yes, that's right... I used to pretend iron. I'm not sure what insights that provides into my psyche, but I loved it. A lot. So there you go. Apparently some babies like to cook and clean.

While ironing is cool, chess, apparently, is not.

RT's First Ironing Board. I don't own one now, so this would be my last one as well.

 Now I have a real life oven and I made a pledge to get to know my oven better this winter. Even though it's eighty something degrees today, I am prepping for having a warm oven making my kitchen nice and toasty in the cooler months. I stumbled upon a simple roasted chicken and vegetables recipe on a blog (Life as Ashlet) I found through the Writer's Workshop. On Saturday I was wandering through the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market and picked up a frozen whole chicken and some root veggies to take home. 

Our week got a little topsy turvey, and I forgot the take the chicken out of the freezer, but we already had some boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the fridge for L. So I got home yesterday, hung out with L, sent her to bed and got to chopping.

Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Onions, Celery, Garlic, Carrots, and EV Olive Oil. That's it.

 Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Take your chicken out to bring it to room temperature and clean your veggies and then chop them into uniform - "ish" pieces.

Combine all of your veggies and season with salt & pepper. You can also add in rosemary or parsley or whatever floats your boat. 

 I took out the thighs and placed them on top of the veggies, then sprinkled them with salt and fresh cracked pepper.

 

Then I popped it in the oven for 45 minutes. The magic of this is that the cooking juices from the chicken drip down into the vegetables and give it fabulous flavor and juicy chicken cooking goodness. That's a thing. Promise. Forty five minutes later, the chicken looks like this:

And then also like this:

Let it sit for ten minutes for all of the juicy juices to do their thang. The blog suggested the following veggies as options for roasting: pearl onions, butternut squash, brussels sprouts, fingerling potatoes, asparagus, green beans, or turnips.

So I know I throw around the word "easy" a lot. Because of this issue, and this recipe, I now need to find a word for something that is easier than easy. The Internet gave me some suggestions and I have chosen the word "effortless" to describe this. Seriously.... wash, chop, combine, sprinkle, top, sprinkle, place, bake, remove, set. Those are the steps you take and you not only have a complete dinner of chicken, starches, and veggies, you also have a world of leftovers. Landon loved this. It reminded me of chicken soup, but in a pan. This is definitely an effortless (see what I did there?) and tasty meal that you could do once a week and recreate in different ways. I'm already looking forward to trying this out again with a whole butchered chicken and some different vegetables. 

Increase the Ov Love in your life. Get after it!

-RT

Recipe Review: Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallot Soup

My finger is on the mend, but don't think S has heard his share of complaints on that subject yet. I almost lost a finger. Almost is a very vague word. 

Today I have a great Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallot Soup recipe from Cooking Light for you. This soup was quick (in a sense), cost effective, full of fresh flavor, and really easy. Secret best friends club promise. 

Once upon a time we had a butternut squash. I can't remember what it's original purpose was, but there it was on my counter. So S thought, "let's probably cook it before it goes bad." He is the CFO of the family. He took an inventory of the ingredients we had around the house and I got an email the next day that said "please buy four shallots and some ginger." Done. 

Cooking Light professional photo for your viewing pleasure.

 First things first. Preheat the oven to 375. Then we peeled, chopped, and deseeded the butternut squash. 

Slices

Chunks

 Next we peeled a section of the ginger and cut it into think slices.

Then we peeled the shallots and cut them in halves.

 Finally we combined everything in a baking dish with salt, pepper, and EV Olive Oil. Did I already say this was easy? It is. Put them in the oven for 45 minutes, then allow them to cool for ten minutes. Now this recipe seemed fast to me because the actual active cooking time is minimal. Baking in the oven time is more "watch Revenge on the DVR for the third time" time.

The final magical ingredients include: Chicken Stock, Sour Cream, & Pepper. The Sour Cream is a personal touch. We skipped the chives in the original recipe. Mainly because no one told me we needed chives... hmmmmm. That no one sure is funny about ingredients. If anyone ever asks you why you should buy an entire bundle of chives (or green onions, or saffron threads, etc) for just a few bowls of soup, just tell them: because it's a recipe and that's how you follow it. And also because I said so.

The roast pan came out of the oven looking full of deliciousness. 

Our blender kind of started creating chemical smoke last time I was trying to make a big vat of green jalapeno cilantro dip. I don't like things that make smoke and smell like chemicals. So instead of following the recipe's original technique, we simply put the broth and the veggies straight into a stock pot and mixed it with a hand blender. HAND BLENDER LOVERS UNITE. If I can find a way to use my hand blender, it is going to be used. 

Step 1 old friend

After blending the ingredients you put them on the stove over medium heat for 5 minutes to warm everything evenly. Then you are good to go. 

We were kind of concerned that this soup would be missing the creaminess that we were craving, but it was completely creamy and very velvety. See what I did there?

I felt like it would be a nice compliment to add a dolup of sour cream (or creme fraiche if you have that) on top with the cracked pepper. I was right. It was a wonderful compliment to the flavor of the soup. We ate it with some crusty whole grain baguettes.

While my photo is less impressive, it was more delicious. According to me.

This was a nice light soup that had all of the make ups of a soup laced with cream and fat and cream. The flavor of the ginger really comes through and give you a wonderful experience with the soft texture and the aromas. I'm getting serious about this. The bread helped to make it a little more hearty for dinner, but it would be a wonderful soup to have around for any meal, first or second course, or snack. It would also make a great early baby food or in our case a late one. Landon really loved it.

If anyone makes it with chives, let me know how that goes. For now I'll stick with the sour cream or greek yogurt. 

-RT

Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallot Soup
from Cooking Light Magazine


Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2/3 cup soup and 1 teaspoon chives)

Ingredients:
4 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large shallots, peeled and halved
1 (1/2-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced
2 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons (1-inch) slices fresh chives
Cracked black pepper (optional)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a roasting pan or jelly-roll pan; toss well. Bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Cool 10 minutes.

3. Place half of squash mixture and half of broth in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large saucepan. Repeat procedure with remaining squash mixture and broth. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Top with chives and pepper, if desired.

Recipe Review: Roasted Chicken Thighs with Mustard-Thyme Sauce

OH my Gravy. Or sauce, but WoW. This was a good one. Again, thank you Cooking Light for making recipes with gravy. Let's get started...

Fancy Photo Courtesy of Cooking Light

I didn't feel like skinning the chicken thighs and have yet to find bone in, skinless thighs at our HEB. Due to that, I picked up boneless, skinless thighs and will tell you how I edited the recipe to make up for the fact that the boneless meat would be more thin, therefore cooking faster. We roasted some new potatoes in the oven as well so we had a lot of oven time tied up.

Small red potatoes, salt, pepper, EV Olive Oil and sliced garlic

Chicken Thighs are being browned

Other side

Out of the oven

In the recipe it calls for you to brown the chicken thighs for 4 minutes per side. I just did 2.5 minutes per side with the boneless thighs. After that, we put them in a baking dish and instead of baking them at 425 for 16 minutes, I did them for 12 minutes. We pulled the thighs out and put them in the microwave to stay warm. We put the potatoes in the oven next and started working on the green beans and the gravy. 

I used the frozen haricots verts that were leftover from last week, defrosted them in the microwave for 3 - 4 minutes and dressed them with EV Olive Oil, a splash of White Wine Vinegar, a bit of honey, and a bit of rooster sauce. It was basically the same dressing I use on my salads, just on a smaller scale.

Frozen = Easier

Green beans ready while I mix up the flour and chicken stock.

We chopped the onions and thyme for the gravy/sauce and prepped the chicken stock & flour mixture. The pan had lots of stuck on bits and then, in a glorious bonus, we got to use the cooking juices from baking the thighs. This was all heading in a very good direction.

Sauce goes from here...

To here!! Gravy/Sauce is born.

The potatoes were ready to go just as we were finishing up the gravy. It didn't call for this, but we took the chicken thighs and put them in with the gravy and tossed them for a moment to both warm them up and also TO COAT THEM IN GRAVY. Here is what the final plate looked like:

I borrowed Landy's new place mat so I would know where my silverware went

Up close and personal and delicious. Every bit.

If you are from the South (especially the Louisiana area) then you know what it means when something is smothered. It is fabulous and not so healthy. These thighs tasted like they were SOUTHERN SMOTHERED DELISH. And they are from Cooking Light!!! You are saving calories and sodium and fat, but you are getting this amazing flavor. I really recommend this when you feel like eating something that tastes bad for you, but is actually good for you. You can also just cook it whenever you want because it is fantastic. Here is another on the side tip: The Gravy/Sauce tastes amazing on the potatoes. 

The full original recipe is below, or you can pull it up online here. This was great for the new bit of fall weather we got. We need to get back outside though. I miss by grill friend! What do you love to cook when the weather starts to cool down? 

Happy Gravy Day! 

-RT

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Mustard-Thyme Sauce
by Cooking Light

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned (about 2 1/2 pounds)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1 cup no-salt-added chicken stock (such as Swanson), divided
• 4 teaspoons flour
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove chicken from pan; place in an 11 x 7–inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Bake at 425° for 16 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°. Remove chicken from dish; reserve drippings.

3. Return skillet to medium-high heat. Add butter; swirl to coat. Add onion and thyme; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Combine 3 tablespoons stock and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture, remaining stock, and reserved drippings to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat, and add mustard, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, stirring with a whisk. Serve sauce with chicken.

Food for the Soul: Cooking for Others

There are things that we get away from as society grows and we further isolate ourselves from our neighbors. The more we turn toward our computers, our phones, and our own needs, the more we lose the connections with those around us. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti progress, but there are certain old fashioned ways that I hold dear and will do my best to continue. Here is something about me: I like to be useful. But sometimes, the best way to be useful is to not incessantly ask someone "what can I do?" The most important times in our lives, the ones that are the highest peaks and the lowest valleys, are the times when people are needed. But what CAN you do? You can feed the soul by feeding the person.

Food is a group hug for your stomach. Your stomach told me this.

I tend to be good at bad situations. I can't think of a better way to put it. When the world around me is falling apart, the only way I thrive is by being the one who keeps it together. And I keep it together by doing what I can do for the people who have lost more than I have. When someone loses a loved one, I cook. If I can't cook because we have to leave town to be there, I clean. If I can't cook and I can't clean, I send flowers and eat ice cream at home while watching a rom com.

When a new baby is born, I LOVE IT. While I didn't get it as much before having my own baby, how can you not LOVE a brand new baby and all of the brand new joy that goes along with it? You have to. Those are the rules. When a baby is born, I cook. And then I buy monogrammed things and tell L she has a new friend (who she can only look at and not touch for four months), and then I cook some more.

Because I have been the recipient of meals cooked lovingly by others I know how much they really mean. It's more than just a meal, it is love and it is warmth and it is food for the SOUL. When you haven't slept all night because you have a new baby and you have amazing friends drop something from their kitchen on your front door, it is better than Christmas. When you wake up after an hour of sleep to breast feed a colicky baby and find your mother cooking in your kitchen, it is a memory that will last a lifetime. 

I am fortunate enough to not yet be the recipient of sympathy food, but sympathy food is something that is somewhat selfish for me. When I know someone that I love is hurting, it is something I can do for them that is useful and that I know will serve a purpose.

At the end of last week, S's first cousin once removed passed away. He and S's father grew up together and he thought of him very much like a brother, so it was a difficult loss for his parents. He was also a really fun and wonderful man in lots of ways who hosted us in Pittsburgh when we were engaged and helped us celebrate our wedding. He was instrumental in the craft beer movement in Pennsylvania and although he was taken too soon, he lived a great life. 

When I heard that he had passed away, I was already on my way to the store, so I stocked up on the things I needed to make a casserole for S's parents so they wouldn't have to worry about cooking for a few days. My first rule in bringing food to others is to cook something that you love to eat. That way you know that it is good. I went for King Ranch Casserole and I was on a time crunch since I had Landy with me and because S's dad was going to swing by and pick it up. Also, this is not a "healthy" recipe, but I make it as healthy as possible. Please just don't focus too much on the cheese quantity. You are the one sprinkling, you can sprinkle as much as you want (or don't want).

Time Crunch King Ranch Chicken Casserole (for the soul)

Makes two pans if you use a 7" x 11" rectangular pan

I made one in a 13" x 9" rectangular pan with another small one in an 8" x 8" square pan

Ingredients: 

time crunch ingredient: Store Rotisserie Chicken

or

non time crunch ingredient: 3 - 4 cups of cooked, shredded chicken

2 large onions

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

3 - 6 cloves of garlic (optional, if you like garlic)

1 T EV Olive Oil

2 cans of healthy request cream of chicken soup (low sodium if they have it)

2 cans of healthy request cream of mushroom soup (low sodium if they have it)

2 cans of original rotel, drained

2 t Chili Powder

2 t garlic powder

20 corn tortillas

4 C of shredded cheese (mexican four cheese blend works well)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Chop your onions and peppers and mince your garlic. Then put a large stock pot on the stove over medium heat to warm up the pan. Combine the onions, peppers and garlic.

Chopped Onion with a trash bowl nearby.

Chopped peppers

About to murder the garlic. Then combine it all.

Pour the EV Olive oil in the pan to coat the bottom and add the onion, pepper, garlic mixture to pan, cooking over medium and stirring until everything is soft.

Pan Party

If I cook my own chicken, I actually do that first so it has time to cool before I need to shred it. Since I used a rotisserie chicken I shredded it while the vegetables were cooking.

Half way mark for shredding.

When your veggies are soft and the onions are clear, add the cans of chicken and mushroom soup, the rotel (drained), the shredded chicken, the chili powder, and the garlic powder. Salt and pepper to taste.

REMINDER: if you are making for someone else and you don't know their salt/pepper preferences, keep your salt and pepper in check. They can always season later to their taste.

Empty soup

Rotel

One big gooey family.

After a couple minutes over medium heat, remove the mixture from the stove. At this point in my cooking, S's dad showed up early and I was put into overhaul mode to finish their larger casserole. What you see below is just the smaller one we kept for ourselves.

Grease the bottom of your pan with your preffered method. Then add a layer of tortillas, torn, until the bottom is covered.

torn tortilla bottom

Next, add a layer of your chicken mixture

Second layer

And last, sprinkle with cheese

Then start again with torn tortillas

More chicken mixture

More cheese

Grand finale, one more tortilla layer, skip the chicken mixture and go straight to the cheese. This layer gets really crispy and crunchy when you put the casserole in the oven.

And there you have it.

A side view of the layers.

If you were making this for immediate consumption, you would put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes or until the top is toasty with bubbling cheese.

Our casserole was a giveaway and we didn't cook the one we made for ourselves until the following day. In these isntances you cover the casserole and put it in the refrigerator. If well covered you can also freeze the casserole. To cook after freezing or refrigerating, simply bring the casserole back to room temp and heat your oven to 350 degrees and cook it for 25 - 30 minutes or until the top is toasty with bubbling cheese.

If there was a food in the world with the ability to group hug, it would be a warm casserole. This is one of my favorites.

Cooking for others doesn't have to be a practice you turn to just for loss of life or new births. Maybe you know someone who is having a hard time, maybe you have new neighbors, or maybe you just want to see a friend smile. That's right guys, I'm getting cheesy and sentimental, but it's true. Cooking for someone else is a wonderful gift and it means so much to the recipient of the meal that took your time and thought to create.

Cooking is a cherished practice that should be undertaken by everyone. Make every meal a celebration, and every time you cook remember that you are feeding more than just an empty stomach.

-RT