This week we finally got to use the summer vundar-technique known as "beer-butt" chicken. Simply enough, a can of beer is lovingly reduced by half through consumption and placed in the cavity of a spice or herb rubbed chicken, which is then placed on the grill. Our experience was not without peril; we could not find our favorite beer in an aluminum can any longer, and had to use a can of soda water (drained and filled half with beer, of course) instead.The results of this much anticipated and highly vaunted technique? Well, I'm not gushing, am I? It was meh. Feh at best. Yes, it was still meat off of a grill, and yes, that is really the most important thing. However, we wasted 4 ounces of good beer for what I didn't think amounted to much. I take it back; this was a tragedy of epic proportions.
One thing I do love about doing a whole chicken is that it leaves you with pre-prepared protein for 6 meals! Of course, the down side to this is that it's the same protein. Every night. Not only that, but it's the same flavorings on the protein. Every. Night. You simply have to pair it with strong flavors to make the meal a bit more unique. This time, we did dirty rice one night and sun-dried tomato and spinach with chicken pizza another to use up the dark meat. Amy's been wanting to work more salads into our diet for a while now, and whenever I think chicken and salad, my first jump is to Caesar.
Caesar was for me as a kid what ranch is to most people, I think. I'd drizzle it on vegetables, dunk my bread in it, heck, even put it on pizza. For the grown up in me, something a little bit lighter was called for tough. We used a recipe from Gourmet Magazine which calls for yogurt of all things! The only substitution I made was to use fish sauce (in the same amount, 1/2 tsp) instead of anchovy paste, simply because that's what we had in the kitchen. So, how did this emulsion of yogurt, fish sauce, and citrus turn out?Shockingly close. Who would have thought?
