Room

Here is where I was staying for the last 3 months.



Yes ladies, that is carpeting on the walls.

Beercan Chicken

Chicken on the grill is easy and tasty. There is a popular method called beercan chicken that I have found works pretty well. I went to Wal-Mart and bought beercan chicken holders. It is basically just a wire rack with a holder in the center for the beercan.



Yes ladies, that's a High Life.

To make beercan chicken you need a whole chicken. To get it ready I stuff an onion wedge in the hole in the neck so that the steam can't escape out the top. Then I rub the chicken down with ground sage and garlic salt. You can use any kind of a rub, but that one is tasty. Next open the beer and put the chicken down over the top. The holder will prop the chicken upright.

Grilling the chicken is another matter. You will need to get a good bed of coals going. Then you want to spread the coals out in a ring on the outside, leaving a space in the center. Next you can put a foil pie pan in the center which is now devoid of coals. The foil pan will catch the drippings from the chicken. The chicken is then placed on the grill in the center, over the drip pan. Grill it for an hour or so and then check it. Some of the coals may have burnt out and it may not be hot enough anymore. If that is the case you will need to add some more coals. It is a pain in the butt but you've got to do it. Also at this time I brush the chicken with melted butter. Brushing with butter helps make a nice dark brown skin on the outside. Replace the lid and grill for another 45 minutes. Now check the temperature with a meat thermometer. It should read 180 in the deepest part of the breast.



One problem that you can run into is that the top part of the chicken isn't done enough. To remedy this, just take the chicken off the holder and put it directly on the grill so that the top part gets some heat.

Back in KC

Well I'm finally back. I'm on night float now so I won't be doing a huge amount of cooking. I work Sundays from 7AM to 7AM monday, and then monday - thursday from 6PM - 7AM the next day. I have Friday and Saturday free. I have only 2 more interviews to go. This coming weekend I am going to Long Island and the weekend after to Chattanooga.

I have a ton of pictures in my camera just waiting to be used for an update. I'll probably do that over the next couple of days.

Right now I am just trying to get over the flu. It hit pretty hard on Thursday and has kept at me until now.

I got a rain gauge in the mail from a relative in Ledyard, Iowa. I will have to be sure to get up that way as soon as my schedule gets a little better. There are good people living in Ledyard.

Other Miami Food

I almost forgot. I also went out for Cuban food in Miami. Of course I got a Cuban sandwich, black beans and yellow rice. It was delicious. This Cuban sandwich was in the hot format. If you look elsewhere in this blog you will see a recipe for a cold Cuban sandwich. That is the one I prefer, but the hot ones are good too. Its basically the same sandwich without the lettuce and tomato. Then they grill it in a press like a panini maker only without the lines. The black beans and yellow rice were pretty standard.

So much catching up to do

I have so much catching up to do when I finally get home. Just a couple quick updates for now. First is from when I was at Vanderbilt. It is located in the middle of a little college town.


When I was there I ate at this place called Bosco's the night before the interview. I got blackened chicken with noodles. It was extremely tasty. I bought a Cajun cookbook to look into the making of such a dish. More news on that to follow in the coming months.

Also at Vanderbilt I ate at a place called Sportman's, which is famous for their BBQ. I got BBQ on cornbread, which was pulled pork served on a cornbread pancake. Oh my gosh it was good. That prompted me to make some BBQ to serve over cornbread. I will post pictures and instructions later. I made beer can chicken. It was amazing.

I just got back from Miami. I went out in South Beach on Saturday night. Spring break was in full effect. It was like Girls Gone Wild down there. I was with a friend from NYC who is from Israel. We stopped to eat at a little Pita place which was amazing. It was true Israeli food. I got a pita with stuff in it. They take a pita and stuff it with grilled meat (lamb or chicken). Then they put a few sauces in there and load it up with what they call salads. They put like 4 different toppings or salads in there. Mine had grilled eggplant, tabouleh, cucumber and tomato salad, and the Israeli version of cole slaw. It was absolutely delicious. My friend said that it is the real deal, exactly what he eats in Israel, but of course he says it is better there. Needless to say I was hugely impressed.