Labor Day Chicken

The saga of the charcoal grill now complete, I turned my attention to what to cook first on my new purchase. Well, chicken, of course! But how? I must admit that those grilling books Karen got me are a bit intimidating. Bobby Flay likes to play around with gourmet ingredients that I just didn’t have time to shop for, so I opened up Weber’s Big Book. Karen got some small NY strip steaks and I knew we were having drumsticks, that’s about it. Then Karen told me that she bought veggies to make a new BBQ staple of ours, ratatouille. Very nice. While the coals are warming up I can cook the veggies on the gas grill. So let’s fire up the charcoal.

Hello my old friend, it’s been too long:

Yes, I’m a pyro at heart. Veggies cooking and coals warming:

Karen thought I was silly for using both grills at once. I reserve the right to be silly.

Then there was the small matter of the chicken. There was a recipe for “Margarita Chicken” in the book so I made the marinade and set the chicken aside for a few hours. It called for tequila but I didn’t have any so I used rum instead. The book also had a recipe for salsa that it said would go well with steaks, so I made that too. I tried to take a picture of the chicken cooking, but my camera is being stupid. Too many things to focus on I suppose, I’ll just have to buy a new camera. So did I burn the chicken?

No. To all you who thought I was crazy when I said it was the gas grill’s fault for burning the chicken, I give you positive proof. Add ratatouille, some steamed potatoes (that were on the grill a little too long), and some salad made by Karen and you’ve got dinner.

I’m back. Football this weekend. My house. Go Steelers.

Click <More> for the recipes, with our modifications.

Fresh Tomato Salsa
2 medium tomatoes
1 small onion
1 jalepeno chile
1/4 of a large green bell pepper
juice from 2 key limes
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

Finely dice the first four ingredients. Put the onion in a strainer and run cold water over it for about a minute so it doesn’t overpower everything else. Mix everything together in a small bowl and let it sit for a few hours before serving.

Margarita Chicken Drumsticks
8 drumsticks, skin on
1/4 cup mixture of fresh lemon and key lime juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons rum
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Put everything in a ziplock bag and put it in the fridge for a while. Grill. There will be some flare-ups when you put the chicken on the grill. At first I thought this was because of the olive oil, then I remembered about the rum. You can also save the marinade, boil it for a minute or so, and brush it on the chicken halfway through cooking like a BBQ sauce. It will also flare up a bit.