What's for Dinner?

[Snydershrugged]

Stage one of the two part Sunday special recipe chicken is complete..

Next is to turn this bird into a pimento cheese chicken salad, wrap it in bacon and bake it all together into an nice appetizer for super bowl Sunday.

 

[Elephant]

Next is to turn this bird into a pimento cheese chicken salad, wrap it in bacon and bake it all together into an nice appetizer for super bowl Sunday.

Mmm....BACON!

 

[Boone]

Holy cow! That's my kind of appetizer!

 

[Boone]

I'm doing a BBQ chicken recipe I've grown pretty fond of. Key is the homemade BBQ sauce which comes out amazing. Basically, you brine your chicken (I use all drumsticks because that's what I dig). Then you prepare your sauce. Cook the chicken on the grill after brining several hours (overnight is even better). When the chicken is done, pull it off the grill, douse in the homemade BBQ sauce and return to the grill for a few minutes to finish it. Amazing.

Brine:
2 quarts water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, smashed with the side of a large knife
4 sprigs fresh thyme
6 chicken legs and thighs, still connected, bone in, skin on, about 10 ounces each

Barbecue Sauce:
2 slices bacon
1 bunch fresh thyme
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika or smoked paprika if available
Freshly ground black pepper

For the brine, in a mixing bowl combine the water, salt, sugar, garlic, and thyme. Transfer the brine to a 2-gallon sized re-sealable plastic bag. Add the chicken, close the bag and refrigerate 2 hours (if you've only got 15 minutes, that's fine) to allow the salt and seasonings to penetrate the chicken.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Wrap the bacon around the bunch of thyme and tie with kitchen twine so you have a nice bundle. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the thyme and cook slowly 3 to 4 minutes to render the bacon fat and give the sauce a nice smoky taste. Add the onion and garlic and cook slowly without coloring for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, give the sauce a stir, and turn the heat down to low. Cook slowly for 20 minutes to meld the flavors. Once the sauce is done cooking, remove about 1 1/2 cups of the sauce and reserve for serving along side the chicken at the table.

 

[Snydershrugged]

Holy cow! That's my kind of appetizer!

I cant wait for it! I basted the chicken with a tiny bit of bacon grease too and it definitely helped it retain juices and made the flavor incredible. I also used a coffee porter as the beer in the cup and stuffed an onion in the neck for even more juiciness.

Your bbq is sounding pretty great too!

 

[Boone]

So, I take it you shred the chicken - but then what? Sounds like you mix it with a pimento cheese (do you use store bought or make your own?)...and then wrap with bacon and grill?

Do tell....

 

[Snydershrugged]

So, I take it you shred the chicken - but then what? Sounds like you mix it with a pimento cheese (do you use store bought or make your own?)...and then wrap with bacon and grill?

Do tell....

Thats Pretty much what we did. (first time making this one).

We used a local made Pimento cheese that has just a touch of spice to it. Nothing fancy

 

[Nobody]

I let the kids pick out dinner tonight. So on the menu tonight is Kraft Mac & Cheese, pigs in a blanket, and baked beans.

The funniest thing about this idea, was when I went to the store to buy it. I put it up on the conveyor, and the young punk behind me with his girlfriend told her just loud enough for me to hear, "I can't believe so many people have no idea how to cook real food." It was in direct reference to what I had up there.

I grinned, pulled out my pen, and wrote down bgobsession.com, "what's for dinner" thread, and member name Extreme, then told him to check it out if he wanted to see who I was and how inaccurate his choice of words were.

Man guys, all this time I was thinking I could cook, it's amazing the things you learn about yourself from strangers

 

[Boone]

It's the granddaddy of all cliches, but did you know what happens when you assume?

Probably a huge compliment Ex, but I was thinking about you earlier today - because we share a huge # of common interests (cooking, gardening, fishing, living off the grid, tall tales...). I was thinking I wished we lived in the same area. I think we'd be great friends.

And that scares me. Just a little bit

 

[Nobody]

It's the granddaddy of all cliches, but did you know what happens when you assume?

Probably a huge compliment Ex, but I was thinking about you earlier today - because we share a huge # of common interests (cooking, gardening, fishing, living off the grid, tall tales...). I was thinking I wished we lived in the same area. I think we'd be great friends.

And that scares me. Just a little bit

I've thought the same thing many times myself. Funny story - I was recently complaining to a friend of mine, more lately than normal with the complaining, about how tired I am of the city. She has urged me numerous times to do what she did and move from here......to Boone She loves it, she's been there a long time now, and says I wouldn't regret it for a minute. Definitely worth considering.

 

[Snydershrugged]

I've thought the same thing many times myself. Funny story - I was recently complaining to a friend of mine, more lately than normal with the complaining, about how tired I am of the city. She has urged me numerous times to do what she did and move from here......to Boone She loves it, she's been there a long time now, and says I wouldn't regret it for a minute. Definitely worth considering.

I spend as much time as I can in Boone (technically Banner Elk actually, but do lots in Boone).

I was just at the Hawks nest last weekend taking the kids tubing. Love it up there!

 

[Nobody]

I've lived in VB since the day I was born 33 years ago, and in my opinion it has gone from my favorite place in the world, to a place I can't stand anymore. When I was younger I loved it. The problem now, is the city has been completely overtaken by corporations and builders, they run everything. Nearly every member of the city council for the past decade has been a builder or corporate big shot, and our current mayor is as well.

This is so far from a resident friendly environment it isn't funny. They have run off nearly every small business to build more hotels and conference halls, and it just sucks all around now. It's gotten to the point where the residents and military are treated like second class citizens, and the only people that matter are the tourists. To top it all off, we now have to pay a luxury tax with our vehicle license renewal every year to the tune of $75, just for the "pleasure" of living in Virginia Beach. This place is such a joke it makes me sick, and I desperately need to get away from people.

Besides, everything me and my family love to do is outdoors, and it's hard to find the outdoors around here anymore. I have the benefit of now living on the outskirts of the heavily developed part, but they're encroaching rapidly. Whole areas of forest disappear all around me every year. When we moved into this house in 2006, everything South of us was dense forest once you drove about 1/2 a mile. Now we're a little more than 5 miles from that dense forest, and it recedes every year. It just isn't my kind of place anymore. I need out.

The only downside is work. My wife is a grad student, so she would want to stay close to a school with a grad program in her field (International Studies), and I would need full time sustainable employment. It's a tough combination to find these days, especially away from the droves of people.

 

[Snydershrugged]

doing homemade meatballs/sausage and sauce for my daughter's birthday gathering tonight.
3 more hours and we are in heaven!

Anyone else ever add some cloves to your sauce?

 

[Nobody]

doing homemade meatballs/sausage and sauce for my daughter's birthday gathering tonight.
3 more hours and we are in heaven!

Anyone else ever add some cloves to your sauce?

We're having my daughter's birthday party tonight too. She just turned 12 on Thursday. The kids are having Papa John's, for the adults I'm making grilled tuna steaks, steamed asparagus with lemon butter garlic sauce, and colcannon.

 

[Snydershrugged]

We're having my daughter's birthday party tonight too. She just turned 12 on Thursday. The kids are having Papa John's, for the adults I'm making grilled tuna steaks, steamed asparagus with lemon butter garlic sauce, and colcannon.

Oh that sounds good! My daughters are 13 and the one turning 11 on the 12th.

I am almost scared of the sleepover tonight!

 

[Nobody]

Oh that sounds good! My daughters are 13 and the one turning 11 on the 12th.

I am almost scared of the sleepover tonight!

I know what you mean. My daughter wanted a sleepover, but we had to limit that part of the party to 5 kids. Last year she had a dozen spend the night, and it was every bit as horrible as it sounds. It was like a damn frat party

 

[Snydershrugged]

OH man, now I wanna puke! LOL!! Seriously, I think they will be OK. I just am gonna drink beer and maybe even bourbon and have a fire out in the cold instead!

 

[Goaldeje]

Our oldest ruined it for the rest of them. When she turned 12 (I think - my therapist has been getting me to repress this), we had a party, which was not normal for us. We generally celebrate as a family and that's about it. Anyway, she invited 20 friends or something for a few hours in the afternoon. It was so awful - noisy, giggly, and other things that make your skin crawl - that we pretty much vetoed any future sleepover or party involving more than 3 friends - for ALL four kids.

Ah... memories. Where's the bourbon thread?

 

[Boone]

Doing some grilled salmon tonight, and stuffed some mushrooms (my daughter Tara is home from UNC this weekend and demanded it - lot of work - but good mushrooms )

 

[Nobody]

Doing some grilled salmon tonight, and stuffed some mushrooms (my daughter Tara is home from UNC this weekend and demanded it - lot of work - but good mushrooms )

Awesome. I picked up some salmon at Food Lion earlier that I couldn't resist. It was wild caught Alaskan salmon, one of the long filets, and it was on sale for $6.99. I've never seen them under $15 before, so I happily grabbed one.