Either way, it's finger lickin' good

We eat a lot of chicken at our house. In the winter, Sunday dinner is often roasted chicken, prepared simply with lemon, garlic and herbs. Or oven "fried" chicken, which gets its crispiness from a coating of herbed bread crumbs.

In the summertime, chicken heads outside to the grill, usually for one of two preparations: Beer-Can Chicken and chicken with Cornell Barbecue Sauce.

I am not a master griller, far from it, in fact, but Beer-Can Chicken (above) makes me feel like one. The method captured my interest several years ago, when I did a breakfast-on-the-barbie feature for The Post-Standard  and spoke with grilling guru Steven Raichlen, author of "Beer-Can Chicken (and 74 Other Offbeat Recipes for the Grill.''

He sold me on his grilling method of choice, and a few months later I made a beer-car turkey, using one of those huge cans of Foster's lager, for an offbeat Thanksgiving feature.

But back to the chicken.

The beer-can preparation is essentially roasted chicken, but done on a gas grill using the indirect method of grilling: The chicken is carefully placed on top of a half-full beer can with something strong underneath to support it, like a metal pie plate or cake pan you no longer use for baking, or a "vertical roaster,'' a stainless steel gizmo that holds a beer can and chicken (widely available at Wegmans and other retailers) The beer infuses the chicken, making it moist and tender.

Raichlen's book contains dozens of variations, including lemonade chicken, sake chicken and root beer chicken, but our favorite is based on his recipe for Cousin Rob's Cajun Chicken, partly because the leftovers make excellent chicken salad and fajitas.

The chicken marinates in a half-can of beer in the refrigerator for 45 minutes (turn it halfway through), then is dried with paper towels, brushed with oil and rubbed with a mixture made with 1 and a half tablespoons Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Cajun Foreplay and 1 and a half tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning. Save a little of the seasoning mix to add to the beer can.

Yes, getting the rub on the oiled chicken is a messy job. The prepped bird should look something like this.

Light one side of a gas grill and heat it to medium-high. Place the chicken and pan on the unlit side of the grill, close the lid and cook the chicken for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the chicken another hour or more, until the chicken is cooked through (about 180 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh).

Let your family and/or friends ooh and aah over the sight of the grilled chicken, then, using an oven mitt and tongs, remove the chicken from the beer can to a platter. This may be the hardest part of the whole process. Let the chicken rest for about 10 minutes, then carve and serve with your favorite side dishes. 

Cornell Chicken, meanwhile, takes its name from the famous barbecue sauce created in the 1950s by the late Robert Baker, a professor of poultry science and food science at Cornell University who died in 2006. During his long career, Baker developed chicken "nuggets,'' and devised many innovative ways to use poultry.

The sauce is made with vinegar, oil, an egg and seasonings -- not a sweet, sticky, tomato-based red barbecue sauce. The chicken that results from using it is more like the church barbecue kind of chicken served all over Central New York, or the chicken served at seasonal stands like Bob's BBQ, on Route 281 in Homer.

If you don't feel like making "Cornell chicken,'' you can enjoy it at Baker's Chicken Coop, a popular stand along "Restaurant Row'' at the New York State Fair, and at Baker's Acres in Lansing. Both businesses are operated by Robert Baker's daughter, Reenie Baker Sandsted. Cornell Barbecue Sauce You'll need: 2 cups cider vinegar 1 cup oil 1 egg 3 tablespoons salt (or to taste) 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning Black pepper to taste

Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Marinate chicken in sauce overnight if possible, or for at least 1 to 2 hours. Grill chicken slowly, and baste while cooking. The recipe makes enough for 10 half chickens. The sauce will keep for a couple weeks in the refrigerator.

Comments

[Margaret @ Eat First]

Maureen --
Robert made a scaled back version of the Cornell chicken on Sunday, just for two of us. It is very simple -- and simply delicious! Thanks for visiting. :)
--Margaret

[Maureen]

I never heard of either one of these before and will surely try both. Thanks for such great ideas Margaret!