Beer Brined Chicken

So first let me start with saying how excited I am to be back on the blog. After an almost 2 month hiatus I am back with recipes and ideas to share! It's been quite a busy 2 months in the Thetford household. Since my last post, Robert completed his last round of exams in law school, graduated from SMU Law, and we moved to a new home.

Our new residence is a duplex, we have the entire bottom floor and it's bigger than where we were before and we no longer share walls with SMU college kids. It's quiet, blissful, and feels more like living in a house than we've ever had before. One of the great benefits of our new place is a wonderful covered porch that let's us use our new Big Green Egg smoker/grill.

Our new duplex

Vegetable garden with squash, zucchini, bell peppers, watermelon, cabbage and mint

Pots that Robert's mom made in the sixties and seventies filled with herbs and peppers

Since we've moved in, we have been grilling up a storm and loving every minute of it. Our recent favorite is a beer brined chicken cooked in the green egg. The original recipe comes from The Big Green Egg Cookbook and we've made a few adjustments to suit our tastes. Mainly switching the light lager beer for chocolate porter beer (yum!) and New Mexico hot chili powder for cayenne pepper and dark brown sugar for light brown sugar in the spice rub.

So far my kitchen is the only room ready enough for pictures.

Our new home office is in the breakfast nook located just off the kitchen

We had a few friends over for dinner last night and made this chicken and there was nothing left at the end of the meal. The brine makes the chicken super moist, and the rub adds incredible flavor to this skin of the chicken that makes you have to eat it, even though you know you shouldn't. Even though we made this chicken in the Big Green Egg, you could easily replicate the process in an oven pre-heated to 400 degrees with a vertical roaster and drip pan.

Printer Friendly Version

Beer Brined Chicken


Ingredients
8 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt
14 ounces chocolate porter beer
1 3-5 pound chicken
1/8-1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 - 1/2 cup spice rub (ingredients below)

Spice Rub
3 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons spicy red chili (new mexico chili if available)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

Instructions
In a large stock pot combine the water, sugar, kosher salt, and beer and stir until the salt and sugar have completely dissolved.

Add the chicken to the liquid. Depending on the weight of your fryer, the chicken may or may not be fully immersed in the liquid.

Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning part way through if the chicken isn't fully covered like mine was in the picture above.

When it's time to cook the chicken, preheat the green egg (or oven) to 400 degrees. Meanwhile combine the spices for the rub in a bowl and stir to fully combine.

Remove the chicken from the brining solution, rinse with water and pat dry with a paper towel. Discard the brining solution.
Brush the olive oil on the chicken.

Generously season the entire chicken with the spice rub and place on a vertical roaster and set in a drip pan.

If using the green egg, place the plate setter into the grill and place the chicken on the plate setter.

Robert the grill master

Cover and cook at 400 degrees for an hour and fifteen minutes, or until an instant read thermometer reads 165 degrees.
Remove and let sit for about 15 minutes before carving and serving.

Source: Adapted from The Big Green Egg Cookbook

Grilled Salmon with Apricot-Mustard Glaze

Wow. I now know that due to my childhood food aversions (that lasted far into my adult life), I have missed out on one of the yummiest foods. Salmon! I just had no clue that something so delicious and nutritious was just sitting there at the grocery store, waiting for me to take it home and turn it into a tasty dinner! Same thing at so many restaurants, I just sort of zone out when they mention the word salmon while I scan the menu for chicken or steak. Well...after broadening my food horizons (for a few different reasons...including this blog!) and making this recipe, I now plan to incorporate salmon into my life at least once a week! If you too are a late comer to salmon, or seafood in general, I hope that this recipe inspires you to dip your toe into the limitless possibilities provided by seafood in the kitchen.

Shafer almost jumped into the fountain on our walk! I almost did too...it was so hot! This was on the 68th (and last!!!) day of 100 plus degree temperatures this summer.

This recipe comes from Cooking Light. I cooked only two fillets, each about 5 ounces, (the recipe calls for 4 fillets, each 6 ounces) and this was more than enough for a dinner for two. I did make the same amount of glaze, and I would do this again, as the glaze was rather phenomenal. Bunker and I both impolitely dipped our bread in the extra glaze. I think if you are at home and you both do this, the impoliteness is canceled out and the action instead should be seen as a silent compliment to the chef :)

Printer Friendly Version


Ingredients for the Salmon:
2 fillets of salmon (each 5 to 6 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper

Ingredients for the Glaze:
1/4 cup of apricot nectar (you should be able to find this in the juice section of your grocery store)
1/4 cup of apricot preserves
1 tablespoon of Honey-Dijon mustard (or just Dijon...we just had Honey-Dijon in the fridge)
1 1/2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons of honey
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper

Steps:
1. Gather all of your ingredients for the fish.

2. Sprinkle the fillets evenly with the salt, pepper and garlic.

3. Cover the fillets and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
4. While the fish is in the refrigerator, gather all of your ingredients for the glaze.

5. Combine all of the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan and heat over and bring to boil.

6. Once your glaze has come to a boil and things have melded together, reduce the heat to a simmer.

7. Let the glaze simmer for about 10 minutes, the glaze should reduce to about 1/4 a cup. Remove the glaze from the heat and set aside.
8. Take the fish out of the refrigerator and prepare the grill with cooking spray. Let the grill heat up before you add the fish, you want to grill to be very hot before you put anything on the grill.
9. Place the salmon skin side up on the grill and cook for about 2 minutes.

10. Turn over and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily.

11. Remove the fish from the grill and pour the glaze over the fish.

12. Enjoy on a hot summer evening! We enjoyed our salmon with a spinach salad, corn muffins, and whole wheat couscous with corn.