Spice Rub Charcoal BBQ Whole Chicken

Today we are going to take a look at cooking a whole chicken on the charcoal BBQ using a spice rub. This will make the chicken well seasoned, slightly spicy and nicely smokey.

To begin we want to prepare the rub. The amounts we used here should be enough to season two normal sized chickens.


Spice Rub Ingredients:

1 tablespoon hot chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)

Combine all the spices thoroughly.

Prepare your charcoal BBQ as usual.

Place you chicken on a platter or in a tray and drizzle some olive oil over it rubbing it around to make sure it gets on the whole bird. Then drizzle over the juice of half a lemon.

Thoroughly and evenly coat the chicken with the spice rub. Then season it with freshly ground sea salt to taste.

When your BBQ is ready place the chicken directly over the coals for one minute a side. Use tongs to carefully turn the chicken so you do this on all four sides.

Place the chicken in an aluminum BBQ or oven tray oiled on the bottom with olive oil. If you used the tray to season the bird make sure you rinse it out before reusing it and oiling it for cooking or any spices on the bottom of the tray will burn.

Cook the chicken in the tray over the coals for between 1 1/2 and 2 hours until done depending on the size. A chicken is thoroughly cooked when it has reached an internal temperature of 180 degrees at its thickest part according to Health Canada. 

To regulate the heat and the coals you want to cook primarily with the BBQ lid on (flue open) taking the lid off to get the coals going again every once and a while. I generally do lid on for 10-15 minutes, then lid off for around 5 minutes, then lid back on 10-15, etc.

When the chicken is cooked let rest on a platter 10 minutes before carving.

This delightfully smokey and flavorful dish pairs perfectly with sides of rice, grilled zucchini, and a garden salad. It also goes well with your favorite chilled white or rosé wine.

Enjoy.

See also: Charcoal BBQ Jerk Style Chicken

See also: Clay Baker Tandoori Style Chicken

Peruvian Inspired BBQ Chicken

This dish is inspired by a seasoning sauce and paste that is used as a marinade for rotisserie chicken in Peruvian recipes. I have modified it by adapting it for cooking chicken pieces on a charcoal BBQ. The marinade already makes the chicken very flavourful and the smokiness of the barbecuing enhances this.

I used this marinade to make 5 large chicken legs. It also works well with drumsticks or thighs.

Marinade Ingredients:

1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup canola oil
juice of 1 lemon
900 - 1000 ml water
4-6 minced cloves of garlic
4 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
sea salt to taste


Combine all of these ingredients in a large bowl thoroughly.

Place your chicken in a large freezer bag and pour the marinade in making sure it covers it all.

Marinade in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and ideally for 4 hours.

Prepare your charcoal grill as usual.

When ready to cook take the chicken out of the marinade and grill for 2-3 minutes a side directly over the charcoal. Do not discard the marinade.

Once you have finished grilling them place the legs in an aluminium cooking pan.

Pour the marinade out of the bag into the pan around the chicken. While you should always discard marinades used on raw meat if it is not going to be used in cooking, here the marinade will be boiled for an hour with the chicken as a sauce. Groups like the FDA and CDC note that marinade is safe to use again if it has been boiled but if you prefer, of course, you can simply make a second batch of marinade for the cooking and discard the first one.

Place the tray of chicken on the grill and cook in the boiling marinade for one hour turning once half way through. (Chicken legs are done when they have reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. according to Health Canada).

You should regulate the heat and smokiness by using the lid. I like to BBQ this way by having the lid on with the flue open for 10 minutes, off for 5, on again for 10, etc.

Serve the chicken removed from the sauce.

This chicken is perfect with rice. I like to drizzle some of the cooking sauce and some lime juice over it and serve it with a Caribbean style hot sauce on the side for dipping.

Enjoy.

Beer & Italian Dressing Steak Marinade for the Charcoal BBQ

Recently we looked at a method of grilling cuts of steak like rib-eyes or T-bones on the charcoal BBQ. Here we are also going to be charcoal BBQing steaks, but this time using more inexpensive but tougher cuts like flank or round and marinading them to make them more tender and flavourful.

There are lots of steak marinades out there -- and we have shared some on The Left Chapter before -- but this one uses beer and Italian dressing to great effect.

The amount of marinade here was used for 4 flank or round steaks.

Marinade Ingredients: 

- 450-500 ml of Italian Salad Dressing (I like to use the classic thick style, that I would actually never use on salad, as opposed to the "fancier" options)
- 250 ml of beer - This should be a pale lager that is not too hoppy. I used a Polish beer, Tyskie
- 1 tablespoon of hot sauce - Use whichever one use like but I used Cholula
- 2 teaspoons each of Soy Sauce and Worcestershire sauce

Prick your steaks in several places with a fork and season them liberally with garlic salt and black pepper. Place in a large bowl and cover with the marinade. Make sure all the steaks are fully submerged.

Put them in the fridge and leave them to marinade for around 4 hours.

About a half an hour or 45 minutes before cooking take your steaks out in the marinade and let them sit in the bowl and marinade at room temperature.

Meanwhile, prepare your BBQ as usual.

Place your steaks on the grill over hot coals. You can pour a little of the marinade over the steak at the very beginning of cooking but should not do so after this. Be careful not to dampen your coals should you chose to do so. Discard all the rest of the marinade after this.

Cook the steaks about 3-5 minutes a side depending on thickness. While I am a fan of rare steak, I think this marinaded steak is better in both texture and flavour when cooked to medium-rare. (Again, if you are nervous about such things, Health Canada says a steak is medium-rare when it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F.).

After cooking let your steaks sit for around 3 minutes. Then cut them into thin strips slicing across the grain.

Serve on a platter topped with fresh basil and mint. These make a perfect backyard BBQ finger food or meal. Terrific with everything steak is good with including cold beer, red wine and friends.

Enjoy.

Marinated Charcoal Grilled Lamb

Today we are going to take a look at grilling lamb on the charcoal barbecue after marinating it for a few hours to give it bold flavours and make it very tender.

The marinade uses curry powder, rosemary, hot sauce and dill weed among other ingredients and compliments the lamb perfectly.


It works best with bone-in shoulder chops. Here we used around 6 or 7 chops.

Marinade Ingredients: 

3/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 - 2 teaspoons hot sauce (I used the very fiery Wolf's Bite Pepper Sauce made by Irie, but any West Indian or Indian style hot sauce you like will work just fine)
2 teaspoons garlic salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
juice of 1/4 of a lemon
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon dill weed
Sea salt to taste
2 chopped sprigs of fresh rosemary

Combine all of the ingredients in a smaller bowl except for the rosemary. Pour over the cops in a large bowl. Then sprinkle the copped rosemary over them and toss to coat the chops thoroughly. Cover and place in the fridge.

You want to marinade the lamb for 3-4 hours but not for longer than that. After about an hour and a half toss the lamb again to make sure all of it is coated in marinade. Bring the lamb out about a half an hour before cooking to bring to room temperature.

Prepare your charcoal barbecue as usual. Just before putting the lamb on the grill toss one or two sprigs of fresh rosemary onto the coals.

Once prepared place your chops on the grill and spoon any leftover marinade over the chops. This is ok to do as the lamb is still to be cooked. Discard any marinade you are not going to do this with.

Grill the lamb to your liking. I like lamb rare which takes only 3-4 minutes a side for most chops. (For the record Health Canada recommends cooking to medium rare which is to an internal temperature of 145 degrees).

When done place the lamb on a platter and let sit for around 3-5 minutes. Top with some chopped fresh parsley.

The lamb will be spectacularly moist and is perfect with a side of rice or a Greek salad. And, of course, your favorite red wine.

Enjoy.

See also: Curried Clay Baker Lamb and Onion Stew

See also: Boneless Leg of Lamb on the Charcoal BBQ

BBQed Pork Chops with Dijon and Dill Sauce

Today we are going to take a look at making seasoned pork chops on the charcoal BBQ that are served accompanied by a Dijon and dill sauce.

When barbecuing pork chops I like to use bone-in cuts as I find they are less likely to dry out.


While you can make the sauce during cooking, if at all possible it is good to make it a couple of hours prior to cooking.

Sauce Ingredients:

3 tablespoons mayonnaise 
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dill weed
2 or 3 dashes of cayenne pepper or hot sauce (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
salt and black pepper to taste

Mix until thoroughly blended and refrigerate until about half-an-hour before cooking when you should take it out to bring to room temperature. You can, of course, make more of the sauce by using the same ratio of ingredients.

About half-an-hour prior to cooking you should also bring out your chops. I like to season the chops on both sides with Montreal Chicken Spice, a commonly available variation on Montreal Steak Spice. Alternately they are nice seasoned with sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder.

Start your BBQ as normal. I use charcoal and generally use the chimney method to get the chunks going.

Depending on their thickness cook the chops directly over the coals for about 7 to 8 minutes a side. While it is important not to serve pork rare, overcooked pork is very tough. (If in doubt or if you are concerned Health Canada recommends cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.)

After cooking let the chops sit for 3-5 minutes and then top each chop with the sauce. The combination of dill and Dijon goes very nicely with pork.

The chops are nice served with a side salad or some grilled or fresh vegetables and can go with either white or red wine.

Enjoy.

See also: Boneless Leg of Lamb on the Charcoal BBQ

See also: Charcoal BBQ Jerk Style Chicken

Whole Turkey on the Spit - Vintage Recipe TBT

In something of a departure from our usual Vintage Cookbook TBT here we are looking at a "found recipe" that could be an alternative for the adventurous this coming holiday weekend in Canada. I came across it while leafing through the Big Boy Barbecue Book w. Pineapple Glazed Ham, Char-Grilled Rock Lobster Tails, Poppy Seed Bread & more  which we looked at in September.


After the "found recipe" I will also include the page related to cooking larger turkeys on the BBQ from the cookbook itself.

The recipe is out of a newspaper column or feature apparently entitled Gobbler Gossip and Recipes. It had been cut out and placed inside the cookbook which makes sense as it is a look at how to cook an entire turkey on a barbeque spit or rotisserie! It was written by Dorothy Batcheller who was apparently a big booster of poultry and wrote a few cookbooks on the subject.  The recipe is likely from around 1971 as that is when the cookbook was released.

Unsurprisingly, it is for a smaller turkey. Nevertheless I am quite sure that it would be a fairly spectacular dinner centerpiece for anyone who is willing to take it on.

I might even one day myself.

The first recipe does not include a total cooking time, so I have found a chart related to BBQing a whole turkey from the website canadianturkey.ca. Remember that Health Canada says to "Cook whole birds until the temperature of the thickest part of the breast or thigh is 82°C (180°F) and pieces of poultry reach 74°C (165°F)".  You determine this by using "a meat thermometer to take the temperature in the thickest part of the breast or thigh meat and make sure the thermometer is not touching any bones." Visit the site for all their safety tips. 

The second recipe from the "Big Boy" cookbook also includes some advice related to how long to cook per pound and the different approaches when using charcoal or gas.

(Click on scans to enlarge)

Big Boy Barbecue Book w. Pineapple Glazed Ham, Char-Grilled Rock Lobster Tails, Poppy Seed Bread & more -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

Vintage Cookbook: Big Boy Barbecue Book

Publication Details: Tested Recipe Institute, Multiple Editions, 1956 - 1971

If you are a fan of barbecue or want to learn to be, the Big Boy Barbecue Book -- which went through many printings in the late 1960s and early 70s -- is a book well worth hunting down.

The book starts with multiple "how to" sections that touch on starting the charcoal, gas vs charcoal, how to use a spit, how to prepare for a party barbecue, etc. These are all very handy.

This is followed by a look at how to make many of the great dishes associated with BBQing, from steak, to burgers, to lobster. The recipes are often technique driven which is a good approach.

Published by a manufacturer of gas and charcoal grills, the cookbook does reflect the times with campy illustrations and some rather 70s recipes of borderline taste. But overall it remains one of the better BBQ cookbooks I have come across.

Occasionally, the recipes reference specific aspects of the Big Boy grills at the time, but with a little imagination it is pretty easy to get around this. 

And to those who will say this post comes a little late in the "season"...BBQ season is anytime you feel like making great food in the outdoors!

(click on scans to enlarge)

Boneless Leg of Lamb on the Charcoal BBQ

Today we are looking at how to make a boneless leg of lamb on the charcoal BBQ. Leg of lamb is terrific barbecued as the length of cooking gives a smokey flavour that compliments it perfectly.

Here we are using a boneless leg of lamb in a string casing. To start, take out your lamb forty-five minutes to half-an-hour before cooking. Season the lamb liberally with sea salt and black pepper all over. Then rub about a tablespoon of olive oil all over the leg as well. Finally, season with a tablespoon of garlic powder.

When you have finished seasoning, mince up about a tablespoon of rosemary and a large garlic clove. Add some olive oil to this and the zest of one lemon. Mix this all together into a paste.

Place the paste evenly around the lamb rubbing it in with a spoon. After you have done this, slice up a large garlic clove and push the pieces into the lamb at various soft spots around it.

Meanwhile, prep your charcoal BBQ the usual way. Here I want to profile an amazing idea my brother-in-law Brad had to convert an old Broil King gas BBQ into a charcoal one. He removed all of the gas components, of course, and then placed a deep metal basin into the BBQ's basin and found a grill that fit over top.

This conversion works especially well as the Broil King lid is very heavy, there is a side flue in the bottom almost as with a smoker and there is a built-in thermometer that allows you to regulate the heat.

It also had a space on the side for indirect cooking, which is a must for this dish.

Of course, you can use any charcoal BBQ big enough to allow for indirect heating, a technique we have looked at multiple times in the past which simply means that you arrange the charcoal so that there is a space (generally in the middle) without charcoal where you can place ribs, roasts, etc, so that they can be cooked for a long time without burning. 

After your charcoal is ready for cooking, put your roast directly over the coals and sear it for 5 minutes a side. You want to get a nice char without burning it so if you are getting too many flare ups simply close the lid for a portion of the searing time.

Once seared, move the leg of lamb so that it is on the grill but not over the charcoal. 

BBQ the lamb for 15-20 minutes a pound to get rare-medium to medium-rare which is how I think boneless leg of lamb should be prepared. You regulate the heat by opening and closing the lid at various points. I generally cook with the lid on for around ten minutes, lid off for around 5 minutes. 

If you are using a meat thermometer boneless leg of lamb is ready as follows: 130 degrees for rare, 140-145 for medium rare, 150 for medium, 160 for medium-well and 170 for well done (not sure why you would do this, but...). For the record Health Canada recommends cooking lamb to an internal temperature of at least 145. 

When done to your liking place your leg of lamb on a platter and let rest for 5-10 minutes. 

Remove the netting and carve into slices.

The lamb will come out moist, smokey and delicious!

Perfect served with red wine and sides such as a Greek salad and grilled zucchini and eggplant as pictured here:

Enjoy!

See also: Pesto Encrusted Boneless Leg of Lamb

See also: Broiled Lamb Chops with Goat Cheese