So, I’ve been attempting to do this moderation thing I’ve been hearing about.
Clearly I don’t quite have the hang of it yet. I’m getting plenty of IRL stuff done, but my blog is dusty and my google reader is about to collapse under its own weight.
Not that perfect balance is ever achievable, but I have some ideas for a posting schedule and whatnot that should help me organize my time a little better. Should being the operative word here.
First order of business is posting some of these recipes that have been piling up for weeks.
We had friends over on Saturday and made this chicken and rum punch. This is one of our favorite chicken recipes for the grill, but we don’t make it that often because it’s a fair amount of work. Also, only have this with really good friends, because you will all have pieces of the herbs stuck in your teeth when you’re done eating. You should have toothpicks and floss on hand.
Herbed Butter Chicken
- 3 tbsps minced fresh basil
- 2 tsps minced fresh oregano
- 2 tsps minced fresh rosemary
- 3 tbsps minced shallots or green onion
- 2 tbsps butter, softened
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsps grated lemon peel
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- bone-in chicken drumsticks and/or thighs (about 3.5 pounds)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
1. Combine herbs, shallots, butter, garlic, lemon peel, salt and pepper in medium bowl. Loosen chicken skin by gently pushing fingers between the skin and chicken, keeping skin intact. Gently rub herb mixture under skin of chicken, forcing it into the leg section; secure skin with wooden toothpicks. (Soak wooden picks in hot water 15 minutes to prevent burning.) Cover and refrigerate chicken at least 1/2 hour.
2. Brush chicken with oil. Arrange briquets on each side of rectangular metal or foil drip pan. (Wouldn’t it be great if I had a picture here? I was too busy drinking the rum punch. We’ll get to that next.)
3. Grill chicken, skin side down, in the center of grid on covered grill 20 minutes. Turn chicken and cook 20-25 minutes or until juices run clear.
Guadeloupean Rum Punch
- 1 fifth white rum
- 1 piece (2 inches) fresh ginger, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch sticks or diced
- 1 vanilla bean, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cinnamon stick (3 inches)
- 6 lumps of light brown sugar or sugar cubes
1. Pour out 1 cup of rum. Add the ginger, vanilla bean, cinnamon stick, and sugar to the rum in the bottle. Pour as much of the 1 cup of rum back into the bottle as you can. Tightly screw on the cap, then shake the bottle a few times.
2. Let the rum punch stand for at least 24 hours or as long as 2 weeks. Shake the bottle several times each day to dissolve and blend the sugar. After 24 hours, taste the punch for sweetness, adding more sugar as necessary.
3. Serve the rum punch straight up or over ice.
Yeah, if you can drink it straight up or over ice, you’re my hero. In all fairness, we drank some of ours after only 48 hours, but it really just tasted like flavored rum to me. It most definitely required a mixer. Also, it was a bit too cinnamony for us. I’m thinking I’d like it more with less cinnamon and more time to stand.
The grilled chicken recipe is from Favorite Brand Name Grilling and the rum recipe is from Steven Raichlen’s Ribs, Ribs, Ribs.
A few tips from the person who actually did the cooking:
Fresh herbs are great, but this recipe is a big enough pain in the ass as it is without trying to mince a bunch of tiny leaves. I just used dried herbs and it was fine.
It can be hard to judge how much of the herb mix to use on each piece of chicken, especially if you’re making a double recipe with 30-some drumsticks. Divide the herb mixture into quarters and you can pace yourself better so you don’t have too little or too much left at the end.
Soaking the toothpicks is unnecessary. Yeah, they’ll get black, but you’re cooking over indirect heat, so they aren’t going to catch fire.
If at all possible, try to grill on a day when it isn’t going to rain.
I’m trying to decide if your tone displeases me or not.
I guess I’ll go with “no” since your jumping in here is supporting my laziness and lack of attention to detail. Also, you DID stuff and grill 12 million pieces of chicken. In the rain.