After returning home from a week on vacation, on Sunday I decided that I needed to cook! I was having serious with drawls but also didn't want to labor over the hot stove all evening!
The solution... beer can chicken! Mr. Tana-Licious' aunt made something similar to this a few weeks back when we joined them for dinner and we fell in love. So simple & so incredibly yummy! I paired it with some grill packet potatoes (took my Lipton potato recipe and tossed it all together into some aluminum foil and stuck in on the grill!) and some locally grown sweet corn. Yum!
Dessert was no let down either! I kept with the grilling theme and made a recipe I had seen in Cooking Light... Grilled pineapple with a rum glaze! To die for!
But first... let's get to the chicken! I started with a quick rub of extra virgin olive oil, pepper, and garlic paste (peel, smash, an then finely chop garlic - add a bit of kosher salt and mash the heck out of it with your knifes side!).
Then I prepped the chicken and the beer can! I tied the chickens little wings together to keep it all nice and compact. For the beer can, I started by drinking just about half of it (someone has to have the hard job!!) and then I shoved about 4 sprigs of rosemary in and then sat the chicken down over the beer can & onto a cookie sheet (this is optional however, it caught a ton of drippings that would have otherwise went into the grill).
Next step was to slather the chicken in the EVOO/ pepper/ garlic rub. I made sure to drip some down into the chicken and lather him up good!
The chicken then made his trip to my grill where we let him cook for 90 minutes over medium low heat!
At the end of his 90 minutes on the grill, he was looking mighty yummy and smelled fantastic!
I then brought the chicken instead and tented him to keep all the juices inside. Helps make a moist bird even moister...
I would absolutely make this chicken again in a heartbeat... ad you can always switch up the ingredients too. For example, you could use a dry rub instead of the EVOO mix I made... or drop some smashed cloves of garlic into the beer can! Endless possibilities!!!
Onto dessert... My favorite part of a fabulous meal!
Rum Glazed Grilled Pineapple(adapted from Cooking Light)
1 whole pineapple sliced into 1" thick rings
1/2cup of your favorite rum (I used Cruzan Coconut Rum)
Vanilla ice cream
Start by heating your grill to medium heat and place the pineapple rings onto the grill.
Grill each side of the pineapple 2-3 minutes or until heated through/ grill marks are present.
Generously baste the pineapple with the rum and flip to do the same. Repeat the basting/ flipping process for 3 more minutes.
Serve alone or with ice cream!
*Note: I served mine ice cream sandwich style! The coconut rum that I used really gave a deeper flavor or tropical fruitiness (is that even a word?!). Delish!!!
