#bbq&a

[abramsbooks]

RECIPE: Smoked half chickens (from BBQ&A with Myron Mixon)

I have made it very clear that I ate lots of hog when I was growing up and very little of other meats—chicken and brisket both included. If I saw chicken that wasn’t fried when I was a kid, it was made in the following fashion. That’s because my dad loved to make half chickens, so I’m going to give you his method for that—that’s what he sold for takeout in his barbecue business and what I saw him cooking when I was coming up.

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 (3½- to 4-pound) whole chicken

1 recipe brine (3 gallons water, 3 cups kosher salt, 3 cups white sugar)

½ cup Jack’s Old South Huney Muney Cluck Rub or make your own (see below)

¼ cup white vinegar

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

We buy whole chickens, local ones, and then we split them ourselves. First, remove the neck and giblets. Place the chicken on a cutting board, breast side down. Using a very sharp kitchen knife, cleaver, or sharp kitchen shears and working from the cavity opening to the neck, cut down the backbone of each side of the chicken; discard the backbone. Next, cut a two-inch slit through the membrane and cartilage at the “V” of the neck end. Grab a breast in each hand and gently bend both sides backward, as if you were opening a book, to snap the breastbone. Use your fingers to work along both sides of the breastbone to loosen the triangular keel bone; pull out the bone. With the tip of a sharp knife, cut along both sides of the cartilage at the end of the breastbone; remove the cartilage. Turn the chicken breast side up. The final step: Cut lengthwise down the center of the chicken to split it into two halves.

The chicken halves should be brined at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight, in gallon-size zip-top bags.

When ready to cook, remove the chicken halves from the brine. Pat the halves down with paper towels or a clean dry kitchen towel. Rub each chicken half inside and out, skin and cavity, with white vinegar. Then season them thoroughly all over with salt and pepper—take your time to season the chicken well.

Preheat a smoker to 250°F. Place the chicken, breast side up, in a deep aluminum pan. Place the pan in the smoker and cook for 90 minutes, or until the breast meat reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer. At the 90-minute mark, take a look at the chicken skin. Push down on the skin with your finger and see if the push leaves a dimple. If that happens, you’re on the way to being done. The final check for doneness is to grab that chicken leg and gently twist it, and if it pulls away, then it is ready to go.

Remove the chicken halves from the smoker and allow to rest uncovered in the pan for 15 minutes. Then serve your birds—I give a half chicken per person.

RECIPE: Chicken rub

Makes about 3 cups

Ingredients

1 cup chili powder

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons kosher salt

3 tablespoons onion powder

3 tablespoons garlic powder

3 tablespoons sweet

Hungarian paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Stir to combine thoroughly. You can store this rub in an airtight container indefinitely, but it’ll begin to lose strength after about 3 months—and if I had any left after 6 months, I’d make a new batch.

Have you ever wondered if you can make good barbecue without a smoker, pit, or grill? If you need to use a rub or marinade? Not sure what a brisket is, whether you need to trim it, and if so, how? In BBQ&A with Myron Mixon, bestselling author and TV personality Myron Mixon answers the questions most frequently asked of him during his many live cooking demos, TV appearances, and private cooking classes. Myron’s lively, informative answers are paired with practical visuals and cover techniques and methods, flavors and preparations, recipes and formulas—all collected in one place for the first time by the winningest man in barbecue.

For more information, click here.

[abramsbooks]

RECIPE: Myron's mac 'n' cheese (from BBQ&A with Myron Mixon: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Barbecue)

Makes 6 side-dish servings

Ingredients

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened

Kosher salt, to taste

1 pound elbow macaroni

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups milk

2½ cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Use 2 tablespoons of the butter to generously grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan all over the bottom and sides.

Over medium-high heat, bring a large heavy pot of well-salted water—you want the water to be salty like the sea—to a boil. Add the macaroni, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook according to the package directions for al dente. When the pasta is finished cooking, drain it in a colander, run it under cold water to stop it from cooking any further, and set it aside.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. When the butter is just melted, sprinkle the flour into the pan and cook, whisking the flour into the butter, for about 1 minute, or until the butter and flour form a blond paste. Slowly and little by little, whisk in the milk, taking plenty of time to whisk between additions of milk, until all the milk is whisked into the paste and a smooth sauce remains. While whisking, bring the mixture up to a simmer so that it’s just beginning to bubble, then remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in 2 cups of the shredded cheese. When all the cheese has melted into the sauce, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the broiler.

Add the drained macaroni into the sauce and stir to combine. Transfer the macaroni and cheese into the prepared pan. Scatter the remaining shredded cheese over the top of the mac ’n’ cheese. Put the pan in the broiler and cook until the cheese is golden brown on top, checking frequently, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the broiler and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Have you ever wondered if you can make good barbecue without a smoker, pit, or grill? If you need to use a rub or marinade? Not sure what a brisket is, whether you need to trim it, and if so, how? In BBQ&A with Myron Mixon, bestselling author and TV personality Myron Mixon answers the questions most frequently asked of him during his many live cooking demos, TV appearances, and private cooking classes. Myron’s lively, informative answers are paired with practical visuals and cover techniques and methods, flavors and preparations, recipes and formulas—all collected in one place for the first time by the winningest man in barbecue.

For more information, click here.