It’s the end of season for of “Cooking with MadJon and Friends” on ASTV 95. For one of the last shows I chose to show you how to do some indirect grilling or heat for barbecue chicken and fresh vegetables.
Indirect grilling is where the heat source is not in direct contact with the meat. Oftentimes the indirect source is completely from the grill, like a smoker grill, where a firebox is used to start a wood fire. Then the hot coals continue to provide heat for slow cooking of your meat.
My brother-in-law, Chef Vern has an Orion cooker, and not only is it an indirect heat cooker, but it is convection, as well. It has two separate heat sources which cause the heat to spin, pulling the smoke from the wood chips and moisture from the liquid tray into the meat. This will speed up the conventional indirect smoker by almost half and adds moisture without the use of a spray bottle.
Now what I used for these recipes was my gas grill. I lit both burners and let it heat up to about 350 degrees; then I cut one of the heat sources off and cooked my chicken and vegetables with just the one burner on.
This makes the best chicken, ribs or pork loin. It keeps the meat moist, full of flavor, making the outside of the meat have a nice crispy texture to it.
In this recipe for the show I added a barbecue sauce onto the chicken while it was in the last half hour of cooking. You should cut the chicken in half, pat it dry on both sides, dust it with your spices, and, remember, when you add the salt, make sure not to add too much; you can always add more salt later.
Also, clean your racks while your grill is hot with a nice wire brush. It is so easy to clean the racks while they are hot.
I placed the meat directly on the racks instead of adding a pan to cook the chicken in, however, if you are cooking a pork loin, I’d suggest that you use a pan to catch the drippings so that you can make a sauce with a beer or wine mixture for your meat.
Another trick for your meat to help keep it moist is to let it rest about 20 minutes before you carve it. The rest time helps keep your juices in your meat.
Now for the cooking the vegetables. Spray the inside of your foil pans before adding the vegetables to keep them from sticking while cooking. Place your pans on the upper racks of your grill.
Mix your olive oils or butters with the vegetables to get a nice coating on them to help keep them tender, and it will help add moisture to your vegetables while they cook. You want your vegetables looking nice and moist and not tough and dry.
Add whatever spices fit your palate, because we all have different tastes when it comes to our foods.
I hope you have a great grilling experience with these few hints I’ve given you. Drop me an email at madjon51@aol.com with any questions that you may have.
I always enjoy hearing from you and hearing about you trying my recipes.
Bon appetit, y’all.
Eileen Hutson is a local professional cook who stars in the ASTV show “Cooking with MadJon and Friends.” Visit her blog at cookingwithmadjon.blogspot.com.
Indirect heat barbecue chicken
1 chicken, cut in half
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic and onion powders
Smoked paprika
1 cup barbecue sauce
Cut your chicken in half and dry it on both sides of the meat. Dust it with salt, pepper, onion, garlic powder and smoked paprika. Make sure you give it a good coating on both sides of the meat. Place it on side of the grill that you cut off, bone side down so your skin is on top. This process will take about 2 hours to cook the chicken. Coat the chicken with barbecue sauce while it’s still cooking for the last 30 minutes. With poultry, make sure that the chicken is done, meaning no blood is flowing. The desired temperature reached for doneness of chicken should be 165 degrees.
Grilled vegetables
3 yellow squash, diced
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of dried basil
Diced all of the vegetables and toss with the salt, pepper and minced garlic. Add in your dried basil and mix. Add the olive oil and mix. Spray a foil pan then pour your vegetables in and cover with foil. Make sure you poke some small holes in the top of the foil so the smoke from the grill can get in. Grill your vegetables for about 20 minutes and stir it once or twice while it is cooking.
Grilled Red Potatoes
6 cubed red potatoes
1 onion, sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. each of onion and garlic powders
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. dried rosemary
½ stick butter, melted
Grease your foil pan. Take your potatoes and mix them with salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, fresh garlic and rosemary. Melt the butter, toss it with the potato mix and pour the mixture into the foil pan. Make sure you poke the holes in top of the foil cover to let the smoke into the mix. Let it grill on about 350 degrees for about 20 to 30 minutes. You can also add some corn and cooked bacon to the mix.
COOKING WITH MADJON: How to cook chicken with indirect heat
