Baconized Beer Butt Chicken

How do you make beer butt chicken -- or any chicken --  even better? Add bacon! It's really simple. Just slip slices of bacon under the skin then season and cook the way you normally do.

The bacon fat renders into the chicken meat, keeping it moist and adding flavor. The bacon itself "becomes one" with the skin. Everyone knows the skin is the best part. Baconized chicken skin amps it up to 11.

 I usually make beer butt chicken with Cavender's Greek Seasoning. Always rinse the chicken with cold water and pat dry first. Add the bacon under the skin, then brush with melted butter (unsalted) and rub in the Greek seasoning.

The shy four pounder on the left took about an hour to cook on indirect heat.

You can just barely see the bacon under the skin on the finished product. For the most part the bacon cooks into the skin and you can't really tell them apart.

Bottom line: Bacon makes everything better. Except maybe chicken livers.

Recipe: Jacked Jerk Chicken

This recipe is based on Diana's Kitchen's version of Jamaican jerk chicken. But it's jacked up with a ghost pepper.

Ingredients

• 1 T ground allspice
• 1 T dried thyme
• 1 1/2 t cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 t freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/2 t ground sage
• 3/4 t ground nutmeg
• 3/4 t ground cinnamon
• 2 T garlic powder
• 1 T sugar

• 1/2 C olive oil
• 1/4 C soy sauce
• 3/4 C white vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
• 1/2 C orange juice
• 1 lime juice

• 1 habanero, finely chopped
• 1 ghost pepper, finely chopped
• 3 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• 4 - 6 chicken breast (not chopped)

Directions

1. Combine the spices in a bowl.
2. With a wire whisk, slowly add the liquids to the spices.
3. Add the peppers and onions and mix well.
4. Add the chicken breasts and marinate for at least an hour.
5. When ready to cook, preheat the grill to high.
6. Cook the chicken breasts until done, turning as needed and brush with the marinade.
7. Bring the leftover marinade to a boil and let simmer for about 10 minutes. You want it to cook long enough to kill any bad germs (salmonella) before you reuse it. Serve the marinade on the side as a dipping sauce.

Comments
The original recipe from Diana's Kitchen did not include the ghost pepper. If you're afraid of ghosts but want a really flavorful  jerk chicken with a little bite leave it out. But the ghost pepper adds more than just a ratchet on the heat. Ghost peppers have a unique flavor profile that really enhances any dish. Especially jerks.

Recipe: Chipotle Spice Rubbed Beer Butt Chicken

A few months back I picked up a cookbooklet at the grocery store checkout line. It's called Cooking with Beer and promises "More than 50 simple recipes!" Chipotle Spice Rubbed Beer Butt Chicken is one of them.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
• 1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 to 4 pounds), rinsed and patted dry
• 1 can (12 ounces) beer

Directions

1. Prepare grill for indirect grilling. Grease grid.
2. Combine sugar, paprika, cumin, salt, garlic powder, chili powder and chipotle pepper in a small bowl, or pulse in blender for thorough mixing. Gently loosen skin of chicken over breast, legs and thighs. Rub spice mixture under and over skin and inside cavity. Drink one fourth of beer. Position chicken on grilling stand with beer can (pictured).
3. Place chicken on prepared grid. Cover and cook 1 1/2 hours or until chicken is tender and cooked through.
4. Remove chicken from grill and let rest for 5 minutes. Remove chicken from stand and carve. Discard can.

Comments

Not bad. I recommend increasing the chipotle pepper in the rub for a spicier result. Use hickory, misquite and apple wood chips when cooking.

Recipe from Cooking With Beer. I can't find a direct link to the book, but the publisher is Publications International, Ltd. 

Recipe Review: Silver Paper Chicken

This is the second of my recipe reviews from Steven Raichlen's Barbecue! Bible. According to Raichlen, Silver Paper Chicken "was inspired by San Francisco's celebrated dim sum palace, Yank Sing." These are  chicken thighs or breasts, marinated with soy sauce, five spice powder, and a few other things, then individually wrapped with scallion in aluminum foil and put over direct heat on the grill until done (about twenty minutes). The recipe calls for bone in thighs but I used boneless, skinless thighs and had excellent results. The finished product makes a great appetizer. It would go well as a starter for Susur Lee's Chinese Barbecued Pork.

Preparing these is very easy. Cut the thighs or breasts in half. Mix the marinade ingredients together and marinate for at least a couple of hours. When you're ready to grill seal each piece with some scallion and a little bit of the marinade in a small foil square and start cooking!

As you can see from the finished product above, these come out nice and juicy and, you can take it from me, extremely tasty. The five spice powder, a blend of cinnamon, pepper, cloves, Sichuan peppercorns, and star anise, give the chicken a distinctly Asian flavor.

If you want to impress your friends with the range of your grilling ability you definitely want to try these.

Obligatory quibble: Like the other recipes in The Barbecue! Bible, this isn't truly barbecue since it's prepared over a direct grill. Who cares? It's the taste that counts.