Friday, May 11, 2012

Mothers' Day Old School BBQ Chicken

Happy Mothers' Day Weekend!

We celebrated Mother's Day and my mom's birthday a week early last weekend.  We decided to go "old school" and do a family picnic like we used to do when I was a kid.   We spent the day at a beautiful park on the lake, grilled out, and just enjoyed family time.

And speaking of being a kid, remember how your parents always told you the best presents were the ones that you made for them yourself?  I guess it still applies because tonight I was talking to my mom and she again said how she could not have had a better time last weekend.  

I call this "Old School BBQ Chicken" for two reasons.  First, it is what I first ever considered "BBQ Chicken", grilled chicken with a no nonsense Southern style BBQ sauce, sweet and tangy.  Second, the BBQ sauce recipe that I used is literally old school.  It is adapted and updated from one that my mother got in her Home Ec class at Clarkton High School in North Carolina back in the 1950's.  

To stay with the Southern style BBQ sauce theme, we paired this dish with Bush's Grillin' Beans Southern Pit Barbecue flavor.  The beans slow cooked in a tangy, rich barbecue sauce were a perfect match for the Old School BBQ Chicken. 


Old School BBQ Chicken
Serves: 6

Ingredients
  • 6 ea chicken breast halves, boneless, skinless
  • 1 Tbsp kosher salt
  • 1.5 tsp black pepper
  • 1.5 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 cup tangy, Southern style BBQ sauce (see recipe for Old School BBQ Sauce)

Instructions
  1. Preheat a charcoal grill to 350f degrees (medium heat).  
  2. Season chicken on both sides with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  
  3. Grill the chicken until it hits an internal temp of 155f, about 6-8 minutes per side*.
  4. Brush the chicken with the BBQ sauce and cook until it hits an internal temp of 165f, about 2 more minutes per side.  
  5. Serve with Bush's Grillin' Beans Southern Pit Barbecue flavor beans.  
Notes
  • Cook according to internal temperature, not times.  Cooking on an open park grill on a windy day like we did took 28 minutes total compared to the 14-16 minutes I get on my covered grills at home.  
Old School BBQ Sauce
Source:  Adapted from my mom, who adapted it from her Home Ec teacher Ms. Baldwin. 

Ingredients
  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 1/2 cup sweet onion, diced
  • 2 tsp Kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 4 tsp stone ground mustard
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tsp roasted garlic
  • 2 Tbsp honey
Instructions
  1. Preheat a sauce pan over medium high heat.  
  2. Add the butter and simmer the onion for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
  4. Use an immersion blender to blend the ingredients until smooth.
  5. Simmer for 5 more minutes.
  6. Cool and store in a jar for up to two weeks.
It was a very good meal considering the beast of a grill on which I was cooking!  My mom mentioned that she had a coupon for Grillin' Beans but didn't know which one to try.  Easy!  I told her that they are all good! 

Here are some pics of the food
Park grills are horrible to use but they have pretty views.

I left the rub at home so we raided the utensil packets for their salt and pepper.  It worked!  Photo credit:  Mom 

My dad and me at the grill.

We went with the Southern Pit Barbecue beans.

So this goose walks up all agitated as if to say, "You're cooking POULTRY!?!?"

A small foil loaf pan fits a can of Grillin' Beans perfectly and doesn't take up much space on the grill.

Notice that I brought my grill grate from home?  The park one was all nasty! 


Here are some pictures of the fun stuff we did.
There are 14 grill areas at The Cove at Concord.  We got the one we wanted on the point.

My mom is around and I act like a kid again, climbing trees.  Photo credit:  Mom

Trevor tried out kayaking in the lagoon area....

And then headed out to the lake.

Alexis and my dad on the swing.  Photo credit: Mom

Reverse angle of that same basic shot.

People swam at the beach and played volleyball on the sand courts.

We caught up about the past 3 months.

We may be out doors but have to have a center piece.

Some people napped....

Then my mom and I took pictures of the Super Moon.

As we left, I took this shot of Trevor "holding" the moon.  
It was a great weekend.  I hope you all get to have as great of a time as we did for your Mothers' Day weekend.

Standard Disclaimer:  This post is part of a series sponsored by Bush's Grillin' Beans.