That pile is next to a pile of blog outlines.  Even though there’s been no posting, there has been much writing and thinking about where this blog fits into all that.  Change is in the air.

Beer Can Chicken

• 1 12 oz can of beer
• 1 chicken (3.5 – 4 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons Basic Barbecue Rub (recipe follows)

1. Pop the tab off the beer can.  Using a church-key style can opener, make a few more holes in the top of the can.  Pour out half the beer into the soaking water of the wood chips.  Set the can of beer aside. (We used an almost 5 pound chicken, so we used a 16 oz can of Miller High Life.  It’s the Champagne of Beers, you know.)

2. Set up the grill for indirect grilling, and place a large drip pan in the center.

3. Remove the packet of giblets from the body cavity of the chicken; remove and discard the fat just inside the body and neck cavities.  Rinse the chicken, inside and out, under cold running water and then drain and blot dry, inside and out, with paper towels.  Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of the rub inside the body and neck cavities of the chicken.  Rub the bird all over on the outside with 2 teaspoons of the rub.  If you have the patience, you can put some of the rub under the skin.  (We did not have the patience.)

4. Spoon the remaining 2 teaspoons of rub through the holes into the beer in the can.  Don’t worry if it foams up: this is normal.  Insert the beer can into the body cavity of the chicken and spread the legs out to form a sort of tripod.  Tuck the wing tips behind the chicken’s back.

5.  When ready to cook, toss all the wood chips on the coals.  Stand the chicken up in the center of the hot grate, over the drip pan and away from the heat.  Cover the grill and cook the chicken until the skin is a dark golden brown and very crisp and the meat is cooked through (about 180 degrees F), about 1 1/4 to 1/1/2 hours.

6. Using tongs, carefully remove the chicken from the grill in its upright position on the beer can.  Let rest 5 minutes, then carefully remove the chicken from the beer can.  Quarter or carve the chicken and serve.

Basic Barbecue Rub

• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sweet paprika
• 3 tablespoons black pepper
• 3 tablespoons coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon hickory-smoked salt or more coarse salt
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 2 teaspoons celery seeds
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir to mix.  Your hands work better for mixing than a spoon or a whisk does.  Use your fingers to break up any lumps of brown sugar.)  Store the rub in an airtight jar away from heat and light; it will keep for at least 6 months.

We didn’t have hickory-smoked salt, so we used 3 tablespoons of sea salt and 1 tablespoon of Kosher salt; and we stored our leftovers in the fridge.  It really is a good go-to barbecue rub to use for most grilling.

As usual, this is a Steven Raichlen recipe – this one is from How To Grill.

It calls for Scotch bonnet chiles, which is an essential part of a true “jerk” recipe.  We couldn’t find them, so we substituted habaneros.  It was still delicious, but not entirely authentic.  We really liked this, so we’ll be making it again, with an attempt to find the right type of chiles.

This is from Steven Raichlen’s Ribs, Ribs, Ribs., but I’ve paraphrased quite a bit.  Honestly, you should just go buy all of his grilling books anyway.

Jamaican Jerk Spareribs

• 2 to 6 Scotch bonnet chiles, stemmed and seeded (leave the seeds in to make it hotter)
• 1 bunch scallions (green onions), both white and green parts, trimmed and coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 tbsps chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsps coarse salt (kosher or sea)
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsps vegetable oil
• 2 tbsps dark rum
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 racks spareribs (6-8 pounds total)
• 1 1/2 cups wood chips, soaked in water for 1 hour and drained

1. Place the chiles, scallions, garlic, ginger, cilantro, thyme, brown sugar, salt, pepper, allspice, and cinnamon in a food processor and process until a coarse paste forms.  With the motor running, add the oil, rum, and soy sauce to obtain a thick but spreadable paste.

2. Spread the jerk seasoning on both sides of the ribs, making sure to remove the membrane from the back of the ribs first.  Cover the ribs with plastic wrap and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or as long as overnight.

3. Set up the grill for indirect grilling.  Place a large drip pan in the center of the grill under the grate.  When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate. Place the ribs bone side down in the center of the grate and away from the heat.

4. The author includes instructions for both grilling and smoking.  We have a grill with a firebox attached, so the coals and wood chips go in the firebox, and the ribs cook on the grill (but we still used the drip pan).  Jerrad made sure to keep the temperature between 225 and 250, and we grilled/smoked the ribs for about 6 hours. (When the ribs are done, the meat will have shrunk back from the ends of the bones by about 1/4 inch.)

5. Transfer the ribs to a large platter or cutting board.  Let the ribs rest for a few minutes before cutting.

Also, in the interest of not letting this just get added to the pile of shit I’ll never post, I’m writing this with the sandwiches in mah belly.  Along with 1.75 hard ciders.

Grilled Tuna Salad Sandwiches with Lemon-Habanero Mayo & Watercress

• 3 cups fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 to 1 whole habanero chile, chopped (just use the half if you’re some kind of sissy)
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 cup mayo
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1 large stalk celery, finely diced
• 2 tbsps chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 4 (8 oz) tuna steaks
• olive oil
• 8 slices hearty bread
• watercress

1. Heat grill to high.  Place lemon juice in a small saucepan and bring to boil on the grates of the grill.  Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup.  Remove from the grill and let cool slightly.  Leave grill on high heat.

Honestly, we skip this whole first step. ( Except for heating the grill, obviously.)  It’s annoying, unnecessary, and makes it a little too lemony.  Jerrad just uses the juice from about half a lemon.

2.  Place lemon juice, habanero, lemon zest, and mayo in a blender and blend until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and transfer to a large bowl.  Add the onions, celery and parsley and set aside.

3. Brush tuna with oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides.

Grill for 3 minutes per side or until slightly charred and cooked to medium doneness.

Remove from grill and let rest 5 minutes before cutting into small diced pieces or flaking with a fork.  Add the flaked tuna to the mayo mixture and gently mix until combined.

Divide the tuna salad among 4 slices of bread.  Top the salad with a few sprigs of watercress (or just lettuce) and the remaining bread.

These sandwiches are so filling we usually just serve them with potato chips instead of a “real” side dish.

Huh.  Look at this nice, neat recipe post with pics and everything.  I think the lesson is here is that I should always be two drinks in when I write.

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.

• 4 sirloin beefsteaks (10-12 oz each), cut 1 inch thick
• 1/4 cup dry mustard
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 large, juicy lime
• coarse salt & freshly ground white pepper

1. Place the steaks on a platter and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the dry mustard over them. Pat the steaks with the flat part of a fork to spread the mustard evenly. Sprinkle the steaks with 2 tablespoons of the Worcestershire sauce, then squeeze half of the lime juice over them. Pat the steaks with the fork. Season the steaks generously with salt and pepper. Turn the steaks over and spread them with the remaining 2 tablespoons each of dry mustard and Worcestershire and the remaining lime juice. Season the steaks with salt and pepper, patting them with the fork. Let the steaks marinate for 15-20 minutes while you preheat the grill.

2. When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate. Place the steaks on the hot grate and grill, turning with tongs, until cooked to taste; 4-6 minutes per side for medium rare. (The author of the book I got the recipe from – see below – says here, “This is a good steak to serve “Pittsburgh rare” – black on the outside, bloody inside.” Oh yumm, way to make me homesick.)

3. Transfer the steaks to a platter and let rest for 3 minutes. Thinly slice the steaks on the diagonal, as you would London broil. Let the slices marinate in the meat juices for another minute or two, then serve.

A word about serving sizes. I usually don’t include them, because they don’t make much sense to me. This recipe says it serves 4. Well, if you can eat a 12 oz steak all by yourself, more power to you. But as one of my bloggy friends pointed out – and I agree with her – one steak is actually like 2-3 servings. Most times we follow the suggestion in this recipe, which is to slice all the steaks into strips.

(This recipe is from another book by Steven Raichlen – The Barbecue Bible.)

• 4 T-bone steaks (1 inch thick, about 12 oz each)
• coarse salt and black pepper
• 2-3 tablespoons dry mustard
• 2-3 tablespoons Tabasco or other hot sauce, to taste

1. Place the steaks on a plate and sprinkle on both sides with salt and plenty of pepper and the dry mustard, patting the spices onto the meat with a fork. Drizzle the Tabasco sauce over the steaks, again patting in on with a fork. Let the meat sit while you preheat the grill.
2. Set up the grill for direct grilling.
3. When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate. Arrange the steaks on the hot grate. Grill for 4-6 minutes per side for medium-rare. Coarsely grind pepper (to taste) over the steaks as they grill. Transfer the steaks to plates or a platter and let rest for 3 minutes before serving.

(From the book How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques and Recipes by Steven Raichlen.)*

This recipe is one of our favorites and we’ve made it many times. We tried it last night with chicken breasts instead of steak, and it was delicious. We tenderized the chicken first, and grilled it for about 6-7 minutes per side. Served with Grilled Corn.

Incidentally, we should stop having grilled corn as the “veggie” with every meal because it’s pretty starchy. As evidenced by the size of my ass and thighs.

* I should just say here that you’re going to see a lot of recipes from this book because it’s really awesome. It’s also an excellent reference for not just newbies, but even seasoned grillmasters like my husband. The recipes aren’t word for word from the book, sometimes I leave out some detail, and I’ll of course be adding my editorial comments.

• 4 ears sweet corn, in their husks
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, at room temp
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 clove garlic
• coarse salt and black pepper

1. Set up the grill for direct grilling.
2. Fashion the husk of each ear of corn into a handle, and remove the corn silk. Basically, this involves peeling back the husk, like a banana, but leave it attached at the stem. Kind of a pain, but worth it because it makes it much easier to turn them on the grill.
3. Place the butter, parsley, and garlic in a mixing bowl and whisk or beat until smooth and creamy.
(Ok, we don’t do it that way on account of laziness. We skip the parsley altogether and use jarred minced garlic. So basically, we put the butter and a tsp or two of minced garlic in the microwave and melt until it’s liquid. See? easier.)
4. When ready to cook, lightly brush each ear of corn with the garlic butter. Arrange on the grill so that the husks are away from the fire.

5. Grill the corn until the kernels are browned all over, about 8-12 minutes in all, turning as needed. Brush with the remaining butter mixture and season with salt and pepper as you grill.
6. Serve immediately.

(From the book How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques and Recipes by Steven Raichlen.)