Another Food Blog Begins, Roll Tide

Editor's note: Barbecued Adventures will be relaunched in early 2014 with new posts about barbecue, pitmasters and related travel. This post dates back to Jan. 5, 2011. Thank you for reading and please come back often.

For many of us Yankees, it’s hard to believe that barbecue existed before authors like Steven Raichlen, Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby started the current wave toward making barbecue a national obsession. And before the Food Network and the Travel Channel.

But in reality, many good people had sought the proper alchemy between wood, fire, smoke and their choice of meat for centuries.

For me, a nearly lifelong resident of Indiana, it took a leap of faith to discover a cuisine that consumes me – my first job in journalism at the Birmingham News in 1985. My good friend and Louisville native Joe Kiefer encouraged me to follow him there, where a deeply ingrained and historic way of life still led to fascinating news copy.

It also led me to Dreamland, Jim n’ Nick’s Bar-B-Q, Golden Rule and the Hickory Pit. There also was that great little pulled pork place in Clanton, Ala., where a policeman shot himself (he was wearing his bullet-proof vest) to gain sympathy after his wife embezzled more than a $100,000 from the city – that was my first breaking news story.

Every time there’s a home University of Alabama football game on ESPN, the announcers have to remind me how privileged they were to venture out to the sticks for some good ribs and beer at Dreamland.

A favorite moment from my two years in ‘Bama was when friends drove through a rare snowstorm to bring numerous racks of Dreamland ribs (pork ones of course) from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham (an hour’s drive each way) so we could consume them at halftime of a televised game with the University of Kentucky.

Unfortunately, a managing editor with Machiavellian tendencies contributed to my abrupt and hasty departure from the Magic City. (In a delicious twist of fate, he later went from being the No. 2 person in the newsroom to heading the paper’s advertising “Flyer Program”).

But I’ve never lost that love for pulled pork, smoked quail, barbecued chicken, ribs and every sauce imaginable. I’ve added to it a craving for beef brisket, sausages with natural casings, smoked catfish and mutton. As a Greek, I’d like to think that roast lamb belongs in this list as well.

A recent road trip through Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas sparked my decision to begin this blog. My wife Donna’s idea to do a barbecue version of “Julie and Julia” didn’t seem practical and my family doctor would not have approved. But I will bring you along, starting with our latest journey.

Don’t read this on an empty stomach.

A Chicken Walks into a Bar

Many years ago, someone pointed out to me an article in the New York Times with the headline, “A Chicken Walks into a Bar,” written by the then relatively unknown Steven Raichlen. By now, many are familiar with the recipe that he popularized in his book, The Barbecue Bible.

For me, the article was a cultural touchstone. For many years, I had cooked my meat – be it chicken, beef or pork – horizontally on the grill. Now this simple, vertical technique always leads to a moist bird on the inside and crispy, seasoned skin on the outside.

The upright position of the bird renders off all of the fat, while the beer steams up through the inside and offers an interesting sight was well. It’s fun and it’s easy.

On a recent Sunday afternoon I made Beer Can Chicken for the first time on my new Weber grill. However, because the lid on the grill lacked the proper height, I found that I had to improvise.

Thankfully, I have a large garage and thus had held onto a Brinkman smoker that I hadn’t used in years (You know the type, it’s shaped like a large bullet).

Guess the lesson here is never throw away a grill that still has a little life left in it, even after you’ve pined after that new, super deluxe model that you saw while shopping for tools at Lowe’s.

Combining the smoker’s lid with the bottom on the Weber grill, the chicken cooked quickly. Prior to cooking, it had been rubbed with olive oil and the rub from Black’s Barbecue in Lockhart, Texas. A little Sticky Fingers Carolina Sweet sauce (made in Charleston, S.C.) was brushed on near the end to add another dimension.

Yuengling Traditional Lager, produced by America’s oldest brewery, served as the marinade. Abita Brewing Co.’s Purple Haze Raspberry Wheat Brew complemented the finished product as well as Donna’s delicious au gratin potatoes, first-of-the-season corn on the cob and a salad. Sunday night's dinner is pictured above.

There’s sometimes a question about what to do with the liver and giblets that have been stashed inside the chicken. I recommend placing them in some aluminum foil along with some olive oil and your favorite rub. It makes a nice appetizer for the person doing the cooking.

Personally, I think Raichlen’s recipe is a little too involved, but here is a link:
http://www.barbecuebible.com/featured/recipe/basic_beercan_c.php

Go for the gusto.