BBQ CHICKEN FINGERLICKIN' GOOD
BBQ Chicken is probably the messiest chicken in town around but it's worth every scrape on the grill for my Styling the New West’s fingerlickin' Labor Day recipe. Ask my husband Jason, who is the official tester of the recipes... he said quote "You'll want to save up your calories for this picnic treat." The first thing you need to know about this chicken is that you will need some time to prepare the night before. You have to prepare a brine for it to soak in. If you don't know what a brine actually does it or why you shouldn't skip this step it helps decrease the amount of moisture loss in the chicken by 35-40%. THAT MEANS IT KEEPS IT TENDER AND MOIST! Usually you only brine lean meats such as turkey, chicken and pork. Now you are an official Brine expert:)
WHAT YOU WILL NEED FOR THE BRINE PROCESS:
Make sure you have plenty of large baggies for this project depending on how much chicken you will be preparing. This will be plenty enough chicken for 8 people for your Labor Day picnic.
4 lbs of chicken both legs and thigh meat
8 cups of water
8 Tablespoons of Kosher Salt
1 cup of light brown sugar
Wash your meat and trim the fat off of it but leaving the skin in tack. Distribute your chicken into the brine making sure your chicken is covered. Thoroughly soak this AT LEAST 4 hours in the refrigerator.
Take your chicken out and discard the brine patting it dry and placing it in a jelly roll pan with edges.
PREPARE YOUR WYOMING WHISKEY BBQ SAUCE WHILE YOU ARE BRINING:
In a mixing bowl put the following ingredients:
4 cups of Heinz ketchup
2 cups of water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups of lime juice
10 Tablespoons of brown sugar
2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
8 cloves of minced garlic
2 Tablespoons of Salt
2 Tablespoons of Pepper
2 Tablespoons of Garlic Powder
2 Tablespoons of Hot sauce (optional)
1/2 cup of @wyomingwhiskey (optional but not optional to me!!)
NOT THERE YET!
Baste your chicken with the sauce putting it in a jelly-roll pan and let it seep overnight. This is an important part of the process so DON'T SKIP PLEASE! You'll love the flavor it gives you after you get this off the grill.
Don't forget to spray your grill before you turn on the grill because it can be very messy if not. I can't wait for you to taste this chicken and it is certainly worth waiting for!
NEW WEST STYLING TIPS
Finally there. You are ready to serve it up. I love styling with these metal Coleman enamelware blue and white plates. They are very campy and serve a great picnic up which are easy to handle and give you something to actually set on your lap. I love having these in my cache and use them ALL the time. I made up some homemade Mac and Cheese, nothing fancy just basic velveeta kind which I add Season-All to the top and added some patriotic berries for flavor and threw in some homemade brownies which I will revisit on another day! My neighbor Jill brought over these blackberry scones for the picnic and they were just right for the menu!
Can’t wait for you to send me a photo of your BBQ Chicken with BBQ Whiskey Sauce Styled and eaten! Please tag @stylingthenewwest! or Email jillking@stylingthenewwest.com.
Last spring on a previous blog of mine - "A Shave and A Whiskey and a Father's Day Treat" I styled a shoot at the @whiskeybarber and presented this whiskey sauce as a give away to the father's day event. It was literally the best gift for these papas.
