SRC Reveal: Root Beer Chicken with BBQ Sauce

It's reveal day for Group A of The Secret Recipe Club.  This month I was assigned the blog Everyday Mom.  Kim is an avid baker and has lots of tasty looking dessert recipes on her blog!  I ended up opting for a savory choice though.  With the weather turning warmer I thought that this Root Beer Chicken looked like a perfect weekend dinner.  This means that my husband, "The Weekend Chef" helped prepare and cook this.  We've cooked chicken like this before but used a beer can.  This is the "non-alcoholic" version! The chicken rub is tasty and it is cooked on the grill.  The sauce was different with an interesting flavor from the root beer, molasses, and orange and lemon juice.  We all enjoyed this dish.  The chicken turned out moist and my kids are big "sauce" lovers.  So they enjoyed this a lot.

Root Beer Chicken with BBQ Sauce

recipe from Everyday Mom

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
Chicken Seasoning (see below)
1 can root beer
1 cup ketchup
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup orange juice
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. molasses
½ tsp. ginger powder
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. onion powder

Directions:
Prepare grill, for indirect cooking.

Wash and pat dry chicken. Generously sprinkle entire chicken with chicken seasoning. Pour out and reserve, 1 cup of root beer. Place chicken on top of open can, so chicken is standing upright. Place chicken on back half of grill, use the legs and can as a tripod to help the chicken stand. Close cover and let chicken cook for at least an hour or until thermometer, placed in thickest part, reads 160°-165°. Remove from heat, let chicken rest for 10 minutes, slice and serve.

While the chicken cooks, combine the 1 cup of root beer set aside and remaining ingredients in a small saucepan. Place over medium high heat, stirring continuously bring to a boil. Once mixture has reached a boil reduce temperature to medium low and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly then serve with roasted chicken.

Chicken Seasoning
(slightly adapted)

2 Tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. Lemon Pepper (can use plain pepper and lemon zest)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in small bowl, stir until combined.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.

Marinated London Broil

After my husband and I decided on making chicken, I realized that I also had a twin pack of london broil in the freezer.  We figured we'd marinate those up and grill them and our mains were taken care of.  Normally I do an asian-inspired marinade with hoisin sauce, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and garlic.  I wanted to do something different and my cookbook was open to one of my dessert recipes (see Friday's post this week!) and this recipe was on the opposite page!  How convenient!  I put the marinade together the night before and my husband grilled this up the next day.  It was flavorful and tasty and the meat was cooked perfectly medium!  It was a nice change from our usual marinade and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Marinated London Broil
recipe slightly adapted from Cooking Light, May 2008

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (2-pound) boneless top round steak, trimmed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Combine first 8 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Pierce steak with a fork. Add steak to bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 2 hours, turning every 30 minutes.

2. Heat grill.

3. Remove steak from bag; discard marinade. Scrape shallots and garlic from steak; discard shallots and garlic. Place steak on heated grill . Sprinkle steak evenly with salt and pepper. Grill approximately 5 minutes on each side, to desired doneness. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing against the grain.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

The Weekend Chef: Grilled Chicken with Cola Sauce

The menu for our son's family birthday party was really a last-minute job.  My husband perused the circular Friday night and said, " How about chicken? Chicken thighs and legs are on sale?"  Okay we could do that.  I found two different grilled chicken recipes and let my husband pick since he was doing the grilling.  This recipe calls for 3/4 cup of cola.  This was a great way to use the bottle of Pepsi that we have had in our cabinet for over two years now!  Yes, it was flat, but we didn't need the bubbles for the recipe.  Just the sugary sweetness.  The original recipe used 6 chicken breast halves.  My husband ended up doubling the recipe since we were making 16 chicken legs and thighs.  We ended up with a bunch of rub and sauce left over and might not have needed to double it, but I always like to have more than not enough.  I did post the original recipe below though, with the original ingredient amounts.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the chicken.  I'm not a big chicken on the bone eater so I had nibbles of the pieces that I cut off for my son.  I found the sauce to be tasty though and the chicken juicy.....so I guess this was a good recipe! 

Grilled Chicken with Cola Sauce
recipe from Cooking Light, September 2011

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup cola (such as Coca-Cola)
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
6 (6 oz ) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Cooking spray

Preparation:
1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

2. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion to pan; sauté 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in cola and next 4 ingredients (through chili powder); bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until sauce reduces to 3/4 cup, stirring occasionally. Set 6 tablespoons sauce aside.

3. Combine sugar and next 3 ingredients (through cumin), stirring well. Rub spice mixture evenly over both sides of chicken. Arrange chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; baste with 3 tablespoons remaining sauce. Grill 5 minutes. Turn chicken over; baste with 3 tablespoons sauce. Grill 5 minutes or until done. Serve with reserved 6 tablespoons sauce.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.