BBQ - but not really

A summer is complete when you dine on food from the backyard BBQ. Who can resist food with that smoky, crispy outside and the juicy inside. The heat stays out of the kitchen. Most of the time, at least at my house this is true, the hubby takes over and you get a break from cooking for the night!

On Memorial Day, we lit up the grill and made up some baby back ribs. Two and a half hours later, we had falling-off-the-bone tender BBQ ribs for dinner. Oh so good. The way I make them, you basically cover them with a spice rub, place them in a foil pouch, add some vital liquids and steam them for a couple hours. Then open the pouch and place them on the very hot grill to crisp up the outside. The really excellent thing about making them this way is, you have all the lucious, flavorful juice that they cook in. This juice can be boiled down and used as the best BBQ sauce you have ever tasted. Or you can pour it into a jar and refrigerated for later uses.

I usually choose to do the latter. I have stirred some of the juice in cooked rice. Pan fried hot dogs with some juice in the pan. But my fave is to use it with chicken! I wanted to make chicken tonight, so I decided to do it up in the good ol' oven. You will need the biggest gun in your pot and pan arsenal - the cast iron skillet. I have a 12" one and it steps food up from good to great. Don't have one? They are in the kitchen stores, the camping goods stores, the one stop mega marts. Go get one!

Check this out:



BBQ Oven Chicken

Chicken pieces
Juice from the BBQ'd ribs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat up a cast iron skillet to a high heat level. Take the grease from the juice and place it in the skillet (use the grease in place of oil and seasonings). Use enough grease to coat the pan lightly. Place the chicken pieces in the pan and turn to sear all sides. Remove from burner and cover pan with aluminum foil. Place pan on the bottom of oven (put it on a pizza stone set on the bottom of the oven, if you have one) and bake for 1/2 hour. Take skillet out of oven and turn pieces over. Put foil back over the chicken and bake for another 1/2 hour, or until pieces are fully cooked. Brush some juice over the meat for even more flavor and serve it up with lots of napkins!

If you don't have a grill, or just don't feel like using yours but still want the yummy BBQ effect, try this out. I think you will be glad you did!