Hangover food and 3 rounds of chicken

Isn’t this sandwich beautiful? I am a bit of a sandwich queen, despite my attempts at eating Paleo which has provided Carnet with much success in how he feels and looks. There’s something so satisfying about 2 really good pieces of bread housing a fantastic sauce or sauces (the gooey-er the better in my book), and your favorite vegies, fruits and/or proteins. Before culinary school, I thought about doing a sandwich truck, but the math didn’t work out for me as I’m stubborn and wanted to serve only all natural, pricier proteins, and organic grains and vegies. I don’t think people in Hawaii will flock to buy a $15 sandwich over and over, no matter how delicious or packed with good calories and fats (in large part, people in Hawaii want lots of food for their money and they’re addicted to fat, usually bad fats. Spam musubi and plate lunches….need I say more?). In defense of Hawaii, over the last 5 years especially, we have seen a movement by the 30s and 40s crowd to source and serve better food, source locally, engage in nose-to-tail cooking, and “try” to bring more CA-style eateries into being. There’s still room for improvement, however, and hopefully in a few years that’s where I’ll come in 😉

But, I digress. Back to my sandwich. So, my cranberry-walnut-whole wheat bread sandwich is perfect hangover food. How do I know this? Not saying. Anyway, I toasted the bread, slathered it with soynut butter (non-gmo, if you believe the label but I don’t since I’m pretty sure Monsanto owns the whole corn and soybean world – boooo!) and inserted slices of local apple bananas and turkey bacon. The sweet, the salty, the crunchy and creamy from the soynut butter…ahhh. It seemed healthier than many other combos I could have opted for, but it had lots of fat and salt that did cure me. That, with a piping hot cup of 100% Kona coffee. Wow! I suppose it’s an ode to Elvis, as everyone says he liked peanut butter and banana sandwiches, but this one is really an ode to my mother. We have been laying into bacon and banana sandwiches since I had my first tooth. I think this would have also been great with almond butter, which I’ll try next time.

2012 has not been a really exciting food year for me yet. It’s mainly been about making simple, nutritious food for the family. Carnet and I made 2 beer can chickens (yes, free range, organic chickens if you believe the labeling) the other night, which is a great way to have leftovers for at least 2 meals. Super simple recipe will be posted at the bottom of the page. And, you don’t even need to use beer cans. I only had one can of Asahi, so I used a can of ginger ale for the other one. Last time, I used a can of pineapple juice. It all works. It’s about the steam more than the actual flavor of the liquid.

Anyway, 1 chicken fed 4 of us, along with roasted root vegetables and cauliflower rice. Then, dinner #2 out of the second chicken was a sliced chicken, apple, spinach salad, with a few left over vegies from the fridge topped with a simple balsamic, mustard, and olive oil dressing.

Meal #3 will be a kind-of gumbo, but not really. I’ll shred the rest of chicken #2 and throw it in with some fire roasted tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, onions, fennel, celery, red bell peppers, chicken broth, a Thai chili or 2, andouille sausage and scallions. Again, this one is about cleaning out the pantry and using up vegetables in the fridge. We won’t put it over rice, as that’s not in Carnet’s eating regimen at the moment, but it will be a good stew, nonetheless.

Here’s the beer can chicken recipe I use:

Beer Can Chicken

 1 (4-pound) whole chicken

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons of your favorite dry spice rub (if it doesn’t have salt, also rub chicken with 1 tablespoon salt)

1 can beer

Remove neck and giblets from chicken and reserve for gravy making. Rinse chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Rub chicken with oil and then rub inside and out with dry rub and salt. Set aside.

Open beer can and take several gulps (make them big gulps so that the can is half full). Place beer can on a solid surface. Grabbing a chicken leg in each hand, plunk the bird cavity over the beer can. Transfer the bird-on-a-can to your grill or an oven roasting pan and place in the center of the grate or oven. The bird should be balancing on the can uniformly.

On Grill: Cook the chicken over medium-high, indirect heat (i.e. no coals or burners on directly under the bird), with the grill cover on, for approximately 1 1/4 hours or until the internal temperature registers 165 degrees F in the breast area and 180 degrees F in the thigh and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

In Oven:  If you do it in an oven pan, you can also throw in vegetables to roast with it in the bottom of the pan about 30 minutes prior to the bird being done. I use carrots, celery, onions, parsnips and sweet potatoes cut in big chunks. If you cut them too small, they will be too mushy.  Cook at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes to start browning and crisping the skin, and then lower temp to 350 until temp registers 165 in breast.  Let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

* One chicken will feed about 4 people. Use two chickens if there are more people or leftovers for 2 more meals!

** If you want crispy skin, you’ll need to baste the outside of the chicken with olive oil or butter a few times while it’s cooking.