Beer Can Chicken

Brooke's Recipe

I don't know who invented Beer Can Chicken, but it had to have been a redneck. Shoving a beer in a chicken where the sun doesn't shine is just so wrong, but the taste is just so right. The chicken comes out so moist and so tender that you won't want to roast a chicken any other way.  YEEHAW!



Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, discard the giblets
1 40 oz beer (I used Yuengling)
5 cloves of garlic, smashed
3 tablespoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons onion powder
3 tablespoons paprika
1/4 cup olive oil
1 stick butter, melted

 Remove all the racks from your oven except the one on the very bottom. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Open the beer and discard half of it the proper way.  Then drop the garlic cloves, peels and all into the beer. Pour the butter into the can as well. Set aside

Pour the olive oil over the chicken and rub the garlic powder, onion powder, and the paprika all over the chicken using your hands. 

Set the beer on a baking tray and pick the chicken up and slide it onto the beer can.  The beer can should fit perfectly into the cavity. 

 

Carefully pick the tray up, and place it on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake for about an hour or until the juices run clear when you pierce it with a knife.

When the chicken is ready, get your cooking gloves on and grab a tong. While holding up the chicken, use the tongs to pull the beer can out. Discard the can, carve the chicken and serve!

Grandaddy's Chicken Eggrolls with Thai Peanut Dipping Sauce

Donna's Recipe

I got my love of cooking from my father.  He hardly ever used recipes, he always preferred to invent his own. When he had a craving for something, he would immediatly take to the kitchen.  30 minutes later, we would have the most amazing dishes.  This is how Daddy's eggrolls came to be.  I have been making them ever since. Of course, you may substitute the chicken with beef, pork, shrimp or fish.  Vegans like these with tofu.

Ingredients:

1/2 head cabbage, shredded
2 cups celery, chopped
1 cup of  onions, chopped
1 can water chestnuts, diced
2 cups chicken, cooked and chopped (for this recipe, 2 chicken breasts were oven baked)
1/2 cup sesame oil  (use more or less to taste)
1 package of egg roll wrappers (find these in the produce section)
1 egg beaten in separate bowl
1 quart of peanut oil


For the Peanut Sauce:

1/2 cup peanut butter
1 lime, juice and zest
2 1/4 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon of  rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoons of ginger, minced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-2 teaspoons of Sriracha hot chili sauce (this is very very very hot)
2-4 tablespoons of water

Cook your chicken by either baking, broiling, or boil in chicken stock.

Stir fry vegetables except cabbage in a large skillet with small amount of vegetable oil and a couple of shakes of sesame oil, stirring until vegetables are cooked tender. Add the cabbage and chicken and more sesame oil. Cook until cabbage is tender. Set aside and wait until cool.

In another large skillet heat peanut oil to about 375 degrees F or medium high heat.

Meanwhile place all the ingredients for the peanut sauce in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Lay out one egg roll wrapper with a corner pointed toward you. Place about a 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the cabbage, carrot and chicken mixture in center of egg roll wrapper and fold corner up over the mixture. Fold left and right corners toward the center and continue to roll. Brush the ends with beaten egg to help seal the egg roll.  (Instructions for folding are included with the egg rolls.)  Make sure you seal the ends well so oil will not be trapped and make the whole thing greasy.  

Place egg rolls into heated oil and fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown.  They cook very fast.   Remove from oil and drain on paper towels or rack. Put on serving plate and serve with the peanut sauce.

Beer Steamed Oysters with Spicy Cocktail Sauce

Donna's Recipe

Oysters have always been associated with love.  Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of  love, gave birth on an oyster shell thus the word aphrodisiac was born. Oysters were also Casanova's favorite appetizer.  I don't know about your libido but I do know they are delicious and healthy.  A dozen oysters contains only 110 calories and they are packed with vitamins and minerals. You can eat them smoked, baked, broiled or fried, but I prefer mine steamed in a good beer.  Serve it with some lemon wedges and cocktail sauce and you may just "get lucky"....



Ingredients:

24 Oysters
3 cups of beer
2 lemons, cut into wedges

For cocktail sauce:

1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Horseradish or MORE to taste
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire
1 tablespoon lemon juice


First you have to make sure your oysters are fresh.  It is best to buy the oysters the same day that you plan to eat them.  They should smell briny like the sea.  Oysters should be tightly closed but there will inevitably be a few in the pile that are slightly open -- for these, do the "tap test": upon tapping, any open shells should close. Throw out any oysters that fail the tap test. Keep the oysters on ice until right before you cook them. Do not  submerge them in water because they still require oxygen.


 

Add 2 cups of beer to a large pot and boil on high heat about 5 minutes or until the steam rolls out when the lid is opened slightly.

Add oysters and an additional cup of beer and cover, turn down to medium heat.

Steam oysters about 5-10 minutes, or all the oysters are open. Do not overcook. Some oysters may take longer than others.  Remove the opened oysters and continue to steam the others until they open as well.

Serve hot, with the lemon wedges and cocktail sauce and your favorite wine or beer .

Marco's Spaghetti Carbonara

Brooke's Recipe

In college at JMU, I had a very good friend from Italy named Marco Indelicato.  He was a fellow French major and he was also a very good cook.  During a study session one evening, he decided to see what was in the kitchen to make us a snack.  I was expecting Ramen noodles or cheese and crackers. But oh no..not from an Italian!  Instead I got a pasta dish that to this day is my absolute favorite.  So here is Marco's Spaghetti Carbonara...

Ingredients

8 strips of bacon, diced
1 whole egg
2 additional egg yolks
1/2 cup cream (or milk, but the cream makes it richer)
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 box of spaghetti noodles

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti until al dente. Drain well. Reserve a couple tablespoons of the cooking liquid to temper the eggs. 

Meanwhile in a large skillet, cook chopped bacon until slightly crisp; remove and drain onto paper towels. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon fat and put the pan back on the heat.

Beat the eggs and add the cream and Parmesan cheese.  Add a little of the cooking liquid at a time to the egg mixture to bring it up to temperature. You need to do this so that when you add the eggs to the pan, they do not scramble. 

Add cooked and drained spaghetti to the pan with the bacon fat. Toss to coat and heat through. Add the bacon. Add beaten eggs and cook, tossing constantly with tongs until eggs are barely set. Add salt and pepper to taste (remember that bacon and Parmesan are very salty).

Serve immediately with extra Parmesan cheese.

OK...now that you have read the recipe..don't balk at the eggs.  The heat of the pasta cooks them.  Just make sure the eggs are fresh.  Try it, I promise you will thank Marco! 


Marco, The Carbonara Master



Cream Cheese Grilled Corn and Pepper Salad

Brooke's Recipe

I decided to grill out on Saturday because it was so warm outside, and I have Spring fever.  I marinated a whole chicken in a spicy buttermilk marinade all day. The chicken came out great, but this side dish made the meal.  It really added something unexpected to an otherwise conventional cook out.

Ingredients

4 ears of white corn
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 jalapeno
4 oz of cream cheese
2 oz of milk
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon onion powder


Preheat your outdoor grill to high heat.

Remove husks and silks from corn. Sprinkle with salt and wrap the corn individually in aluminum foil. Set aside. 

Dice the yellow bell pepper into corn kernel size pieces. Dice half of the red pepper and seed and dice the jalapeno. You want all of the veggies to be about the same size. These are not going to be grilled. Reserve and set aside.

Cut up the rest of the peppers into large chunks.  Tightly wrap them together with a sprinkle of salt in aluminum foil. 

Place the foil wrapped corn and peppers on the grill.  Cook for approximately 30 minutes, turning occasionally, until tender.

Cut the corn kernels off the cob using a knife.  Then dice the grilled peppers. Mix all of the ingredients together in a grill-proof saucepan. Return to the grill and heat until the cream cheese and cheddar cheese are melted and bubbling.

The raw veggies add crunch on top of the soft grilled veggies.  The corn is sweet and the jalapeno's are hot.  All around the perfect mix.

Poutine (cheese fries with gravy)

Brooke's recipe

Chuck's Day Off on the Cooking Channel is my favorite cooking show.  I couldn't believe my eyes when he took home made french fries and smothered them with cheese and gravy.  Turns out this is a classic dish served in Canada called Poutine.  It is traditionally served with cheese curd but I couldn't find any here so I used mozzarella.  My husband said this is one of the best things he has ever eaten. Here is my version of  Canada's favorite comfort food. 

Ingredients:

For Fries:
3 large Russet Potatoes
2 quarts of your favorite frying oil (I used canola)

For Gravy:

2 cups of chicken stock
2 oz of flour
2 oz of butter
1 shallot

2 8 oz balls of fresh mozzarella. Don't use the pre-shredded mozzarella in the package. I used Bel Gioioso for this recipe.

Wash and scrub your potatoes with cold water.  Cut them in half longways, then in half longways again. Then cut into 1 inch fries.  Place the cut fries into a bowl of cold water.  This removes a lot of the starch from the potatoes which is the first step to crispy fries.  While the potatoes are soaking, pour your oil into a deep pot.  Heat your oil to 350 degrees. 

Drain the potatoes but continue to run water over the fries until the water runs clear. Pat the fries dry.  Fry in batches for 3-4 minutes each. Do not let them brown. This is the second step to crispy fries. You have to fry them twice. Let the fries drain on a paper towel lined tray.  Once all of the potatoes are done, put them in the freezer for one hour.

After an hour reheat your oil again to 350.  Re-fry the fries until brown.  Again drain them on a paper towel lined tray. Hit them with some salt  and pepper while they are still hot.

Meanwhile make the gravy!  Mince the shallots.  Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat and saute the shallots for 5 minutes.   Turn the heat down to low and slowly add the flour until you have a thick roux.  Slowly stir the roux until it is a light brown color.  Turn the burner back up to medium and add the stock. Stir until thick and glossy.  If the gravy is too thick, add more stock.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Cut the mozzarella balls into one inch squares.  Remove the paper towels from underneath the fries and discard.  Sprinkle the mozzarella squares over top of the fries.  Put the tray under the broiler until the cheese is melted.

Transfer the cheese fries to a plate and ladle the gravy over the top. Dig in..

Pastie (Cornish Meat Pie)

Brooke's Recipe

I was watching Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" on TV and he visited a cafe in Montana that served meat pies called Pasties.  My husband couldn't stop talking about how good they looked, so last night I decided to try and make him one. Basically it is a pastry shell stuffed with meat, onions, potatoes and spices, and then baked or fried and smothered in beef gravy. Tradition claims that the pastie was invented in Cornwall, England in 1749 as lunch for coal miners to eat under ground.  Here is my 21st century twist.... to eat above ground.

Ingredients:

1 can of Pillsbury Grands biscuits
1 lb of cubed stew beef
1 large yellow onion
1 package of refrigerated diced hashbrown potatoes
1 teaspoon of curry powder
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

For Brown Gravy:
1 can of beef stock
1 to 2 tablespoons of corn starch


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Open the can of biscuits and combine them into one big ball of dough with your hands.  Divide into 4 equal balls.  Set Aside

Chop onions and cut steak into smaller 1 inch pieces.

In a large saucepan over medium heat add olive oil and saute onions. After 5 minutes add diced hashbrown potatoes and lower heat to medium low and cover.  When the potatoes are soft, add steak.  When steak is cooked to your liking, remove the pan and set aside.

Roll out each ball of dough into a large circle like a pizza.  Place about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture in the center of each dough circle.  Fold the edge of the dough over the meat mixture until you have a half moon shape.  Then press a fork down on the edges to bind the dough together. Continue making the other pasties the same way.

Carefully transfer the pasties onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake until golden brown. 

Meanwhile prepare the gravy by heating 1 cup stock in a saucepan over medium heat. Combine the cornstarch with the other cup of stock until  incorporated, and then add it to the pan.  When it comes to a boil, it should thicken up. If you like it thicker, continue to add cornstarch to a small amount of water and then add to the gravy until you get your desired thickness.

Transfer the pastie to a plate and pour the gravy over top.

As a side note, the spices I used gave it a Moroccan flair.  You can use any spice you like.  Or none at all and it will still be just as good.