The Cook’s Kitchen

Here’s another post from Get Your Grill On editor and publisher of the blog, WhiteTrashBBQ, Robert Fernandez. Today’s post finds Rob revisiting his quest for the ‘Golden Chicken’. Take it away, Robert….

I know it’s still February and there’s still snow on the ground here in Brooklyn, but I’m itching to get out and cook. I need to smell wood burning.

My Weber Kettle is calling to me from the garage. You know the Weber. It’s that sputnik shaped orb (Man, am I showing my age! Kids - Sputnik was the first satellite launched into space - and it was launched by the Russians!) that had defined home barbeque until the advent of the gas grill.

The Weber is easily one of the most versatile home cookers on the market. It can grill, it can roast, it can barbecue and it can smoke. Not a bad deal for less than $150!

Chicken is one of my favorite foods to barbecue, hell it’s one of my favorite foods period and it’s easy to do on the Weber. To setup your kettle for barbecuing is very simple. Build two small piles of coal and wood on each side of the kettle. Place a drip pan in the middle. Light the fire and adjust the bottom vents until the fire is between 225 and 250 degrees and you’re all set.

This cook was part of my “Quest for the Golden Chicken” that I have been pursuing for a while now. Why a “Quest for the Golden Chicken” you ask? Well that’s a story for another post.

So how do you make “The Golden Chicken?” Keep reading after the break…

I picked up a couple of packages of Perdue chicken wings and legs. I marinated them for one hour in: (Mix all ingredients in a blender set to puree)

• 1 Cup Olive Oil
• 1/2 Cup Corn Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Chopped Garlic
• 1/4 Cup Sherry
• 1/2 Cup Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 Cup White Wine Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Tumeric
• 1 Egg
• 2 Tablespoons Turbinado Sugar
• 1 Minced Onion

On the right is a picture of some chicken on the grill ready to begin the transformation into sweet succulent barbecue. Sorry about the greenish color of the un-cooked chicken. I didn’t use the flash and it was a very gray day.

I built a fire of Kingsford Charcoal, Cowboy Lump and some oak chips. I placed a pan of chicken stock in the middle of the fire. This time I added stock to the drip pan but water works just as well. I basted the chicken one time with some more of the marinade. Then I put the cover on the smoker and went inside.

I took the remaining marinade and boiled it for 3 minutes to kill off any bad bacteria, removed it from the heat and added…

• 1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup
• 4 Heaping Tablespoons of Head Country Rub
• 12 Oz Dole Apple Juice
• A few shots of Frank’s Hot Sauce
• Salt and Pepper
• And a little more Turbinado Sugar to balance it and to finish it off.

This marinade is now became my mop and finishing sauce for the chicken. I let the chicken cook for about one hour, then mopped it for the first time. I continued to mop the chicken every twenty minutes to half hour until it was done.

So how did it taste? Good. Very good, just short of great. The sauce was sticky and gooey like a good Barbecue sauce should be. Sweet but not over powering. You could really taste the chicken which often gets lost when using the commercial sauces. The wife and kids all said that they liked this recipe better than the traditional sweet red barbecue sauce, but to me it was a little too Asian in flavor to be traditional BBQ. The chicken skin was tender and crispy. The meat? The legs were perfect, but the wings were over cooked.

I’m getting close, but my “Quest for the Golden Chicken” goes on.