COOKING WITH
MADJON: How to cook chicken with indirect heat
By Eileen Hutson
Oct 1 2013 5:10 pm
Photo by Frankie Guzman Barbecue chicken, grilled
vegetables and grilled red potatoes were all cooked using indirect grilling.
It’s the end of season four 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.
Enlarge photo
by Frankie Guzman Eileen Hutson prepares potatoes for indirect grilling.
photo by Frankie Guzman Eileen
Hutson prepares potatoes for indirect grilling.
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
