Rick Bayless Grilled Roadside Whole Chicken

I had something else planned for dinner tonight, but I realized we'd be eating dinner around the boys' bedtime if I went with it. We have somewhere to go at 3:30, and I'm guessing we won't be home until 5:00-ish. The cooking time on the other whole chicken recipe I was going to make was 65 minutes, and I figured it would be 15-20 prep time. So I needed a new plan. I figured I'd check my friend Jen B's blog for ideas. As I was waiting for her blog to load I thought of this method of grilling chicken, which made me think of this recipe. She made it one time when we went over for dinner, and it was super yummy. Plus you can't go wrong with a Rick Bayless recipe!

Rick Bayless Grilled Roadside Whole Chicken

Ingredients:
For the marinade:
1-1/2 tablespoons ground Ancho chile powder
1 tsp dried oregano, preferably Mexican
A big pinch of ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, preferably Mexican
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped or crushed through a garlic press
3 tablespoons vinegar (apple cider vinegar gives a Mexican flavor)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp salt

1 large (3 lb) chicken (sometimes called a large frying chicken, or a small roasting chicken)
About 1 cup roasted Tomatillo Salsa, for serving

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix together all the marinade ingredients.
Heat one side of a gas grill to medium. If you have a grill with three burners, heat the outer two to medium, leaving the center one off. Or light a charcoal fire and let it burn until the charcoal is covered with white ash and about medium-hot; bank half the coals to one side of the grill, half to the other.

While the grill is heating, remove the giblets (if there are any) from the cavity of the chicken. Flip the chicken onto its breast. Using poultry shears, cut down both sides of the backbone from tail to neck; discard backbone. Or, if you don't have shears, lay the bird on its back, insert a long heavy knife into the body cavity and press down hard with a rocking motion to cut down through both sides of the backbone. Open the bird out onto your work surface, breast side up. Make sure that the legs are turned inward. Using your fist or a mallet, wallop the bird on the breast, hard enough to dislodge the center bones and flatten out the breast. Twist the last joint of the wings up over the breast and then down behind the "shoulders," tucking them in firmly to keep them in place during grilling.

Smear both sides of the chicken with the marinade. Lay in the center of the grill (it will not be over direct heat). Cook, without turning, basting from time to time with any remaining marinade, until the juices run clear when a thigh is pierced deeply with a fork (an instant-read thermometer should register about 160 degrees when inserted at the thickest part of the thigh), about 45 minutes. If you're cooking over charcoal, you'll want to add more charcoal to the fire after an hour or so - the internal temperature of the grill should stay at about 325 degrees. Remove the chicken to a cutting board. It will lose less juice if you cover it loosely with foil and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Cut the chicken into quarters (or smaller pieces). Transfer a portion to each of four dinner plates and you're ready to serve. Pass the salsa separately.

*****

The only thing I'm missing is orange juice. I can't decide if I'll use something else in its place or maybe stop somewhere real fast on our way home from our friend's house. I'm not entirely sure what we'll have for a side. I was going to make orzo with the other chicken recipe, but I don't think that would work as well with this. I might do skillet roasted potatoes, and I promised the boy we could have peas with dinner tonight. This should be a yummy dinner, and we should be able to eat right on time (assuming I don't lollygag at our friend's house!).

Rick Bayless' Red Chile Steak and Beans

After having the Chipotle Shrimp recipe last week, I can't get enough Rick Bayless!! My friend Jen B. made this recently and loved it, so I'm excited to try it. I thought it would be a great use for some of the leftover beans from last night, too. I usually try to have a certain cuisine only once a week, but this week we're having Mexican three times. I had slated two meals (this and the tostadas from last nigh), and I needed one more dinner on my menu plan, and the husband suggested fish tacos. He didn't seem to mind that it was the third Mexican dish of the week, so watch for that over the weekend.

Rick Bayless' Red Chile Steak with Beans

2 tablespoons pure olive oil, vegetable oil, or bacon drippings
Two 10-ounce ribeye steaks, trimmed of excess fat, cut into 1-inch cubes
Kosher salt
1 medium white onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat
2 tablespoons ground ancho chile powder
1/2 tablespoon ground chipotle chile powder
2 garlic cloves, finally chopped
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups beef broth, plus additional as needed
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
One 15-ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes in their juice
One 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained or 1 3/4 cups home-cooked pinto beans, drained
Cilantro sprigs, for garnish
One scallion, thinly sliced, for garnish

Directions:
In a skillet or sauté pan large enough to hold the meat in a single layer, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the meat. Season with salt. Let the meat sear on each side, turning only after each side has browned. Be careful to keep the meat rare as it will cook more in the sauce. Stir in the onions. Once the onions have browned, using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate.

Reduce the heat to medium. Add the bacon fat, followed by both chili powders, garlic, and flour. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to make a thick roux-like mixture, about 1 minute. Whisk in half of the broth and bring to a boil. Add the remaining broth and sprinkle in the cumin and oregano. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil. Stir in the beans, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

If the sauce has thickened beyond the consistency of a light cream soup, thin with a little more broth. Add the meat and onions to the pan. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until the meat is heated through. Garnish with the cilantro and thinly sliced scallions. Serve immediately.

*****

Thanks to Jen for typing all that out--I took the easy route and copied it from her blog. ;) I don't have steak to use, but I did have some stew meat in the freezer that needed to be used, and since it's way too hot in AZ for beef stew, I thought this would be a great use of it. I'm just going to let it simmer in the sauce for longer, probably 45 minutes to an hour, depending on when I get my ass in gear and get started and how tender the meat is. Not sure what we're going to have with this. I'm tempted to make that Copycat Chipotle Rice, but I thought I'd make that to go with the fish tacos. I really liked it, but twice in a week might be overkill. I might just make some brown rice to soak up the sauce. I have a frozen Southwest veggie blend I might heat up as a vegetable to go with it.

The husband and I have a date night tomorrow to go see the new Harry Potter movie, so I'll be back on Friday!

*****

The flavor of this was really tasty, but I wouldn't recommend using stew meat for it. I ended up letting it simmer for quite awhile as we decided to have dinner after the kids went to bed. I thought that would help the meat get a little more tender, too, but it really didn't do much for it. I will make this again because I know it has potential to be awesome, but I'll use a better cut of meat next time.