Root Beer Can BBQ Chicken

You've heard of Beer Can Chicken, well why get a beer when you can use root beer. I don't think I've ever cooked such a perfect chicken before. The good thing is if you can't eat it all in one meal.. use the left overs for tacos the next day. mmmmmm.

Ingredients

1 small-medium whole chicken, cleaned
1 can root beer
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp. Barbecue Rub, Recipe Follows
2 cups your favorite BBQ Sauce


Directions
Pop the tab off the root beer. Using a church key style can opener make some more holes around the edge of the top of the can. (I didn't have one so I used a hammer and the end of a sharp knife.. it was a little dangerous so try to get a can opener)


Set up the grill for indirect grilling - I have a gas grill so I turned on the left side burners and placed my chook on the opposite side.
Use a drip pan if you have one, there are good disposable ones in the grocery store, I didn't have one so I created my own pan with a double layer of Aluminium Foil (See the picture)


Remove and discard any other pieces in the cavity of the chicken. Remove and discard the fat just inside the body and neck cavities. 
Rinse the chicken, inside and out, under cold running water, drain, and blot dry inside and out with paper towel.


Loosen the skin from off the body of the chicken by gently sliding your fingers in between the skin and meet. This will create a great added flavor cavity for you to use.


Lightly coat the chicken with olive oil.


Sprinkle the chook cavity with  2 teaspoons of the dry rub.


Set aside 2 tsp of your rub. With remaining dry rub apply it to the outside of the chicken, making sure you are thorough. (Yes it's gross but good food is worth getting your hands dirty)
Put some rub also under the skin, careful not to tear it.


Spoon your 2 tsps of rub in the root beer can.  Don't worry if it foams up, this is normal.  Insert the can into the body cavity of the chicken and spread out the legs to form a sort of tripod. Tuck the wings tips behind the chicken's back. You might need help in inserting the can.. my 6 year old thought it was the coolest and most funny thing ever!


When you are ready to cook, stand the chicken up in the center of your drip pan on the opposite side of your running gas burners.  If using charcoal grill, toss some wood chips on the coals.


Cover your grill and cook the chicken until the skin is a dark golden brown and very crisp and the meat is cooked to an internal temperature of 180 Degrees F. About 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 depending on the size of your bird.


Monitor it closely you do not want to over cook this juicy bird!


I had to rotate my chicken about half way through to get all sides evenly crispy.  A good sign it was done was when the juices in the pan were coming out clear.


Using tongs, carefully transfer the chicken.  You might need help removing the can. One person holding the can with tongs and the other sliding off the chicken.


Allow it to rest before carving it up. Serve it with your BBQ sauce, I also served it with some grilled bacon and button mushrooms. (See Recipe to follow.)

RUB RECIPE

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup paprika

2 tbsp ground black pepper

3 tbsp salt

1 tsp garlic salt

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp celery seeds

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Creamy Mushroom and Smoked Gouda Burger

Sauteed Mushroom and onion, a seasoned beef patty, melted soft gouda cheese on a toasted sesame bun.  Need I say more?

Ingredients

Prepared Perfect Hamburger Patty (see recipe)

4 oz Cream cheese softened(1/2 a brick)

1 punnet button mushrooms chopped into small pieces

1/2 a small onion medium finely chopped
2 tbsp Salted Butter

1 tsp beef bullion

Sliced Smoked Gouda cheese(regular gouda cheese would be great too of course)

Hamburger buns. (Feel free to experiment with different rolls I recommend a soft roll though rather than a harder bread)

Directions

Heat a saucepan on the stove to medium to low  heat. Add butter and melt. combine mushrooms and onions to the pan and saute and sweat them until they are really soft. 

While they are cooking sprinkle the beef bullion granules on top and blend in.

Once they are completely softened remove them from the heat and allow them to sit and cool a little for 5 minutes or so. 

In a small mixing bowl place the cream cheese and mushroom mixture together and stir until well combined. The beef bullion will spread through out the cheese and give it a great beefy flavor for the burgers.

Heat BBQ grill to a medium heat. 

While grill is heating butter the rolls generously so they are ready to go on the grill when needed.

Once grill is ready , spray with non stick spray and cook the patties .. generally only turning once, never EVER squish your patties down. This is squeezing all the juice and moisture out of them. Slow and steady will keep your patties nice and juicy.

After turning patties place your buns on the grill also, if you need to press gently to have all the areas of the bun toasting. Remove quickly when done to your preference.

When patties are almost ready place your slices of cheese on top of them and close the BBQ lid to quickly melt the cheese on top.

Remove when the cheese is melted and gooey!

To put the burgers together place the patty on the bottom bun, spoon a generous amount of the mushroom mixture on top and spread it out. Place the bun top on and allow the heat from the patty and top of the bun to melt the cream cheese mushroom mixture.

Cinnamon Butter

I was on a quest to remake the cinnamon butter from Texas Roadhouse to go with my sunday dinner rolls.

After much perusing different recipes online I came across this one that I changed slightly. While most rip-offs consisted of just butter, honey and cinnamon this one had the textural difference I was looking for. Try it and feel free to let me know what you would or wouldn't change.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) VERY softened.

1/3 Cup sweetened condensed milk - chilled in the fridge

1 tsp Corn syrup (Karo syrup)

1 tsp cinnamon to taste

Directions

In a mixer or with a hand mixer whip the softened butter until smooth and creamy. Add in remaining ingredients one by one. Whip mixture on high speed scraping down sides until it is all incorporated.

Refridgerate until ready to use. Remove to allow it to soften approx an hour before you need it.. dependant upon the temperature in your kitchen. The texture of this butter with teh condensed milk does allow it to spread even when chilled, however for the best creamy and smooth texas roadhouse effect allow it to soften before use.

Serve with fresh hot rolls.

 

Indulging tastebuds instead of Cooking.

Apart of experience of cooking is the participation in eating other foods that you have not prepared yourself.... In fact the older and more experienced in cooking I get, the more aware of layers and notes in dishes, I have a greater appreciation for the time and thought put into each dish as I eat.

Recently during a trip to my homeland Australia I had the chance to partake of some noteworthy restaraunts and meals,  I decided to post blogs of restaurants that made it to my favorite list during my travels. 

 (When I say noteworthy.. I really mean it)

These restaurants are from different towns in the beautiful state of Queensland.

 

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

This is one of my favorite Italian basics. Intense and sweet I love the concentrated flavor of sun-dried tomato pesto.

Ingredients

1 8.5oz jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil

1 cup (Packed) fresh basil leaves

2 garlic cloves

3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup roasted pine nuts

1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

Directions

In a food processor, pulse the sun-dried tomatoes and their oil with the basil, garlic and pine nuts just until the tomatoes are finely chopped.  Transfer the pesto to a medium bowl, and stir in the cheese adn salt and pepper.  Season the pesto with more to taste.  Depending on the oil in your sundried tomatoes you might need to add more Extra Virgin Olive oil in order to get it to the right consistancy.

(this pesto will last for 1 week if stored in an air-tight container.)

Massaman Beef Curry with Potato

Perfect for a cold winter day. It's worth stinking up your house for!  This hearty curry with mild flavors is very kid friendly.  My family gobble it up.

Ingredients
2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
approx 750 grams of beef
1 large red onion, chopped
4 small potatoes or 2 large chopped to bite size
2 cans coconut milk (Do not shake your can... let it sit and seperate in your fridge before cooking)
1 cup massaman curry paste (See recipe on blog) - variations and ratios may be different depending on your paste. This recipe is based on the flavors in the paste I make myself with the recipe shown below
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts
half cup of shaved palm sugar (Substitute dark brown sugar if you cannot access palm sugar)
7 Tablespoons fish sauce
quarter cup of tamarind water

Directions
Heat oil in wok and sear meat. 
Add onion, cook about 1-2 minutes.
Add enough water to cover, bring to boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the potatoes, cover and simmer until potatoes are partially cooked.
Strain out meat and vegetables, reserve broth.

Place thick cream from the coconut milk in wok, stir in curry paste, cook for 2 minutes. 
Mix in potatoes, meat and peanuts.  Stir in reserved coconut milk, add sugar, fish sauce and tamarind.
Stir until sugar is dissolved.  If necessary, stir in as much of the reserved broth to thin the sauce to your taste. Simmer until the potatoes are cooked through.
This curry taste almost better the next day, the flavors sit and marry in the fridge. Reheat gently.

Massaman Curry Paste

This mild curry, named after the Muslim people in southern Thailand, is spiced with cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, and used for hearty stew-like dishes.

It is one of the mildest and most fragrant of the Thai curries.

Ingredients

10 gms of dried red chilis -  I used 1 huge pod. Pick your chili dependant on the heat you want.

2 cardamom pods, roasted ( no stores in my area have cardamom pods, I opted to use 1/2 tsp ground dried cardamom).

1 1/4 teaspoon whole cumin seed, roasted

1 1/2 tablespoon whole coriander seed, roasted

1 1/2 teaspoons shrimp paste, roasted

1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

2 cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 stalk lemon grass, finely sliced

1 tablespoon finely chopped, peeled galangal (Substitute ginger root if you cannot find galangal)

1/4 cup fresh chopped garlic

third cup chopped red onion

Soak chilis in warm water.

Line a tray with tin foil. Put spices  cardamom, cumin, coriander, and shrimp paste on tray and roast in oven until fragrant.

Combine peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon and roasted spices, grind in mortar and pestal for best results,... or if you don't have one put them in a zip lock bag and pound with flat side of a mallet until all are ground up and combined.

Finely chop remaining ingredients and transfer to food processor with the ground spices and shrimp paste.

Process to a paste using some of the soaking water if necessary.

Store in the fridge. Keep sup to 2 weeks. Or freeze in ice cube tray.