By Seared Lightly

  You can find no finer fryers than Oregon’s own.  And you can apply this fresh, moist, tender and economical provender to a wider spectrum of recipes than are inspired by any other foodstuff we know.   We offer some of our favorite ways to beautify the bird:

  Drunken Chicken
 1 2-3 lb. cut up fryer (or parts of your choice)
 1 White Onion, chopped
 1 Green Pepper, chopped
 5 tbsp. seasoned Flour (add salt, pepper, garlic powder)
 ½ cup Brandy
 1 cup dry White Wine
 ¼ lb. unsalted Butter
 ½ tsp each dried Tarragon, Thyme, Parsley (or 1 tbsp. ea., chopped fresh)
 ½ lb. sliced fresh Mushrooms (Portobello preferred)

Shake chicken pieces in a bag with flour.  Melt butter in a large frying pan, fry chicken @medium heat until browned.  Add Onion, Green Pepper, salt & pepper (to taste) and fry another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Pour pre-warmed Brandy into pan, light and allow to burn out.  Stir herbs into the wine and add to the pan, dump in mushrooms and give everything a big stir and a blessing.  Cover the pan and cook at low heat for 35-40 minutes, adding wine if necessary to keep things moist.  Liquid remaining when the Chicken is done is an ideal gravy base.

  Southern Fried
 1 fryer, cut up
 1 qt. Buttermilk
 3 cups Flour
 2 tsp. Paprika
 1 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
 2 tsp. Salt
 1 tsp. fresh ground Black Pepper
 2 cups Peanut Oil

Place Chicken in glass bowl, add Buttermilk and refrigerate for at least 6 hrs.  Combine Flour, Paprika, Cayenne, Salt & Pepper and shake in a paper bag to mix.  Heat Peanut Oil in cast-iron skillet until quite hot, but not smoking.   Shake each piece of Chicken in bag of seasoned Flour.  Add Chicken to pan, skin side down.  Reduce heat to medium and cook, turning once, until Chicken is golden brown and crispy (12-15 min. per side).  Drain Chicken and serve.

  Grapesqueezer’s Curry
 1 cut-up fryer
 ½ White Onion, chopped
 5 tbsp. seasoned Flour (salt, pepper, garlic powder)
 1 cup Chardonnay
 Juice of 1 Lemon
 1 tbsp. Curry Powder
 1 tsp. grated Lemon Peel
 1/8 lb. unsalted Butter
 4 oz. extra virgin Olive Oil

Shake Chicken pieces with seasoned flour in a bag.  Melt butter in a pan, add oil and stir.  Fry Chicken at medium heat until brown, add onion, salt & pepper and fry 10 min. longer, turning Chicken to avoid scorching.   Meanwhile, warm wine and stir in lemon juice, peel and curry powder, then add this to the chicken, cover the pan and cook on low for 25 minutes.  Pour pan liquid over Chicken and serve. 

BBQ browsing

 Already we’ve seem some validity in the long range weather forecasts that predicted a warmer, dryer sunny season this year.  So much the better for that very American sport of outdoor barbecuing.  We won’t get into a treatise on the growing variety of BBQ grills on the market.  We do urge you to check the Business section in this issue for an innovative Oregon product earning attention across the land.

Ribs are the quintessential BBQ target when you step beyond weinies and ground round.  We heartily endorse the following approach to the porcine rib cage, adapted from tips gathered from attendance at Portland’s annual Bones & Brew fall waterfront festival.

                                   Perfect Pork Ribs

THE SAUCE:
  1 Tbsp. Canola Oil  2 bunches Green Onions, chopped
  2 cups chopped Onion  8 large Garlic cloves, chopped
   2 cups Brown Sugar  1 cup Ketchup
  1 cup Tomato Paste  1 cup Dijon Mustard
  1 cup Water   ½ cup Worcestershire Sauce
  ½ cup Apple Cider Vinegar ½ cup Apple Juice
  2 large Chipotle Chilis (stemmed, deseeded & chopped)
  1 tbsp. ground Cumin  1 ½ cups good Bourbon

Heat Oil in large pot over medium low heat.  Add all the Onions and Garlic and saute’ until tender (about 15 min.).  Mix in all other ingredients, adding Bourbon last.  Simmer sauce slowly, stirring occasionally, 1 hour.  Season to taste w/Salt & Pepper.  You can make sauce in advance of BBQ day and refrigerate.

THE RUB
  2 tbsp. ground Cumin  1 tbsp. Chili Powder
  1 tbsp. Dry Mustard  1 tbsp. coarse Salt
  1 ½ tsp. Cayenne Pepper 1 ½ tsp. ground Cardamon
  1 ½ tsp. ground Cinnamon 6 lbs. Baby Back Pork Ribs

 Mix spices, rub over both sides of Ribs…arrange Ribs on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  When your grill is hot, arrange Rib racks on the grill, cook, turning frequently, for 30 minutes.  Transfer Ribs to a work surface and cut the racks into individual Rib pieces. Arrange these pieces on a baking sheet.  Transfer 3 cups of the prepared sauce to a bowl.  Reserve the rest of the sauce in a sauce pan.  Brush Ribs thoroughly w/sauce from bowl.  Return the Ribs to the BBQ and grill until brown while brushing with sauce from bowl, turning for about 10 min.  Warm the sauce in the sauce pan and serve with Ribs.

We enjoy perhaps the cheapest grilling meat this side of a hot dog…Lamb Riblets. Talk your butcher out of a couple of slabs of these.

                                      Lamb Riblets

MARINADE
  2 tbsp. Honey   2 tbsp. chopped fresh Rosemary
  Juice, 1 Lemon  ¼ cup Dijon Mustard
  4 Garlic cloves, minced 1 Jalapeno Pepper, minced

 Blend ingredients, pour into a large plastic storage bag toss in the Ribs and store in the fridge for up to 24 hrs.  Remove Ribs from bag (don’t wipe off), broil with fat side down until quite brown, turn and cook with heat turned down or keep turned ribs from direct coals on covered grill for 12 minutes.
 

                  Go for the Basket

 If your grill has a motorized rotisserie spit attachment, find a grilling basket at an outdoor cooking equipment retailer.  This round cage slides onto the spit and has a hinged door.  It’s best use is for Chicken.  Marinate your bird parts in whatever ‘do’ you savor, for at least 6 hrs.  When ready to cook, drain the marinade into a bowl.  Place chicken parts in your basket, turn on the grill and the spit.  Keep sprinkling the marinade over the chicken as it roasts, until the poultry is a pretty dark brown and has shed a quanity of juice along with the draining marinade into the catch pan you put below the turning cage (you should periodically add liquid from this pan to your basting marinade).  Our favorite marinade/baste is any bottled Carribean Jerk Sauce.

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