CHICKEN BREAST

For these breasts I have used Grill Mates® Applewood Rub, Grill Mates® Mesquite Seasoning and Bertolli Classico olive oil (any olive oil will do).  The easiest way I have found to apply dry rubs to pieces of meat is using a sealable covered bowl and shaking.  Larger cuts like slabs of ribs or roasts require the hand on approach.  For these a liberal amount of the Applewood and a hint of Mesquite in the bowl first, then the chicken, then more rub and spice, cover and shake.  Now add more than enough olive oil to coat the chicken, cover and shake again.  I recommend starting this marinade 2-3 hours before starting your fire.  After about an hour readjust the chicken to get different pieces on the bottom and shake again.

These need to be cooked on indirect heat, slowly.  These were large breasts and cooking took about 3 hours total.  If you don’t have a grill with a smoke box, put the coals on one side.  For upright, trash can like grills, have the fire on the bottom and put the breasts on the highest rack possible.  When you are ready put some wood on the coals and the chicken opposite the fire.  Start with the big end of the chicken opposite the fire.  You should have a puddle of olive oil and spices left in your bowl.  Save this for basting.  Open the lower vent next to the fire and also the lid vent on the chicken side (both full open), close the lid vent on the fire side and the bottom vent on the chicken side.  This helps create a good flow of heat and smoke across the meat.  Use your favorite wood.  I have the good fortune of living with a 70 year old pecan tree (and it’s offspring) that keep me supplied with plenty.  For my money, pecan gives the best flavor, but hickory and mesquite give good smoke as well.  Many people may like to soak the wood in water are make a smoke box with some water in it to put on the fire, but I prefer a dry smoke with wood right on the coals.

After about an hour rotate the breasts and baste with the leftover olive oil.  This is the only time I baste because there will be some raw chicken fat in this mix.  Flipping isn’t necessary, but if you want to get grill marks on the skin, you can.  I recommend poking the coals to get the ash off, raising the heat, and adding some more wood the get the smoke going.  As you can see, I only use a few pieces of wood each time.  You can see the chicken turning a golden brown, thanks to the olive oil.  Give it about another hour and then poke the coals and add more wood.  At this point they are done and will taste great to eat, or ……….

You can brush them, both sides, with barbecue sauce, like Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet ‘n Spicy, or your favorite.  Place the breasts over the coals for about 10 minutes each side.  Here is what you should wind up with:

 

WINGS! #1

I grill a lot of wings, or wangs as we say here in Texas.  They are one of my favorites.  I will revisit wings every so often to highlight different seasoning, rub and sauce combinations.  The one thing I will definitely say about grilled wings opposed to the fried wings many restaurants serve is grilled wings do not come off as greasy.  That’s the beauty of the grill.

This time I am using charcoal that I will top with pecan wood, when the coals are ready.  Gotta have that pecan smoke!

As with the country style ribs I am using McCormick’s Grill Mates seasoning.  I usually use a rub and frequently accent it with a seasoning.  Sometimes I use only a seasoning.  For these wings I have selected Cowboy rub with a hint of Mesquite.  The Cowboy Rub has a good kick on its own.  Generously sprinkle the rub and some mesquite in a large bowl with a sealable lid then cover with a layer of wings.  Add more rub and seasoning on top of this and then another layer of wings and so on until you run out of wings.  Now seal the bowl, pick it up and shake like mad.  I find this is the easiest way to season meats that are small pieces as opposed to large cuts.  Try to do this a few hours before starting the coals.

My secret weapon for grilling wings are these “vegetable” cages.  I get the whole wings and cut them with meat shears and this usually makes 30 pieces with the large package of wings I buy.  These cages mean two flips as opposed to 30 and makes life easier.  You will probably want to give the wings 10 – 15 minutes each side.  You want to get the wings 99% done before saucing.  Don’t be worried if this takes more time because your grill may not get as hot.  I usually have all vents full open for wings but I stay prepared to close them if a flame up happens.

Since I have two cages, I use two different sauces.  Frank’s Original Hot Sauce is the best.  Frank makes some varieties of wing sauces, which are thicker and good, but I love the flavor of the original.  Pour about half your bottle of Frank’s in a sealable bowl that can stand heat.  You will now need a couple of oven mitts or grilling gloves because you are going to dump one of the cages into the bowl and the cages are hot.  Now pour on the rest of the Frank’s.  (This is assuming you got the small bottle of Frank’s.  If you got the large one only use about half the bottle for the whole process.)  Seal the bowl and shake and then use your tongs to put these still hot wings back into its cage.  Don’t just dump them on the cage because you want to keep some sauce in the bowl.  Now pour your barbecue sauce in the bowl, I have chosen Sweet Baby Ray’s Hickory and Brown Sugar.  This makes a great sweet and spicy flavor when the two sauces combine.  Dump in the other cage, put some more barbecue sauce on top and shake.  All told I usually use about half a bottle of barbecue sauce.  Put these back in their cage and return both cages to the grill.

You will probably want to put a couple of small pieces of wood on the coals to get it smoking again.  Give the wings 5 – 10 minutes each side and don’t fret if there is some light charring, and I mean LIGHT!  Any more will make the meat of the wings dry and tough.  The wings that only have Frank’s should come off lighter and slightly sticky while the ones with Ray’s will be darker and very sticky.  Those of us with facial hair may need extra napkins. I have to apologize because I was in a hurry and didn’t take any finished product pictures.  It was getting dark and I had to get them up to my friend’s house for our usual Friday evening Lingerie Football League viewing party.  We had these with ranchero beans and tater salad.

Country Style Ribs

Take a medium to large size bowl with a sealable lid and liberally sprinkle your favorite rub, I have used McCormick Grill Mates Sweet and Smoky.  Cover this with a layer of ribs and then sprinkle on more rub, repeating until out of ribs and you have sprinkled rub on the top layer.  Cover and seal the lid, get a good grip and shake the bowl to apply the rub.  Now, sprinkle on enough olive oil to generously coat the ribs.  I used Kultrun Chilean olive oil infused with ground black pepper, but any olive oil you like will do.  Now shake the bowl again.  I did this about 4 hours before cooking.  Every hour or so shake the bowl again and stir the meat around to keep the same cuts from staying on bottom.

It is best if you have a wide grill or one with a smoke box, so you can have your coals to one side.  When your coals are ready, put the ribs directly over the fire and cover your grill lid, and allow about a 5 minute sear on each side.  Just enough to get some grill marks started and get the meat a little brown.  I am cooking these with only pecan wood.  I frequently use charcoal with a few chunks of wood on top to make the smoke.  Any kind of good smoking wood you prefer, like mesquite or hickory will work as well.

After searing move the ribs to the side off direct heat.

I recommend having the vents on the meat side full open and on the fire side half closed.  This will allow a flow of good hot smoke to pass the meat while not completely choking out the oxygen.

After 20 – 30 minutes flip and rotate the ribs.  Continue this for about 45 minutes to one hour until the ribs look pretty done.  Poke ‘em with a fork if you have to to test them.  You will want to periodically poke at the fire and add some small pieces of wood to get it smoking a little harder.

Now generously brush on your favorite barbecue sauce.  I recommend any variety of Sweet Baby Ray’s.  Add a small piece or two of wood to get the smoke going.  Give the ribs 5 – 10 minutes each side, just enough time to let some sauce drip on the coals and the sauce to take in some smoke and thicken on the meat.  This will also cook some of the sweetness out of the sauce.

When done they will look dark but you want to get them off before they get any charring.  I had mine with Ranch Style Beans, homemade corn bread, an onion wedge and hamburger dill slices.