By Ken Paulk

WOW, WHAT A GREAT FOURTH OF JULY. I hope everyone got through it safe and sound.

Mom was born on July 4, 1920. She was from an Irish family and Dad’s from Germany. They met in San Francisco toward the end of 1944 and were married in early 1945. With both Irish and German blood in the same household, well, you can imagine the intense discussions held in our days at home. Both were right and both were wrong, but in the end, they loved each other dearly.

Chicken was always a part of our life. My Grandma Hattie Paulk always had “layers” for fresh eggs and of course there would be a sacrificial chicken every once in a while for a good meal. When Granny put down a chicken, us kids benefited from three things: amusement, a toy and good eats. Amusement came in the form of the chicken running around without his head (yes I’m sorry to write about this); a toy from the chicken feet, as you could play with them; and of course there was a great chicken dinner around the corner.

When I was about 6 years old, I stopped eating chicken. I thought it was gross and refused to take another bite. My Dad threatened me with my life, but no way was I going to chew down on a drum stick, ever again. Mom asked our doctor what to do and he said, it’s simple; serve chicken every meal from breakfast till supper and after about 24 hours, KC (as I was known then, for Kenneth Charles) will come around or starve. Guess what, I started liking chicken again.

Now back to the agenda at hand: Slow Roasted Garlic Chicken.

Fixins:
2 plump roasting chickens
1 12-ounce can of Budweiser
4 large tablespoons of molasses out of an 8-ounce bottle
4 ounces of minced garlic with 4 ounces in reserve
6 strips of thick country bacon
5 large chunks of mesquite or red oak, presoaked in water
2 large Ziploc bags

Start the process:

Take the birds and clearly wash the outside and inside and remember to remove the internals. I’m still amazed today whenever I hear someone cooked a chicken or a turkey and forgot to remove the “other” parts from the inside. Salt and pepper the cavity and if you want, throw some garlic along for the ride.

Put each bird into its own separate Ziploc bag. Add 5 ounces of Budweiser to each bag and take a 2 ounce gulp to finish off the can. Add 2 ounces of molasses and 2 ounces of minced garlic; seal and shake around. Throw the bags in the fridge for about 3-4 hours, turning over and rubbing every 30-45 minutes or so.

After 4 hours of soaking and turning, your fire is hot with a consistent temperature of 200-225 degrees. Take a pot of water, add the rest of the molasses and minced garlic, stir and place near the fire at the opening leading from the burner pit to the smoker pit. We are going to create a controlled steam to go along with the smoke from the mesquite.

Stand each chicken up, making sure the legs and wings are as open as possible. Lay 3 strips of bacon over the top of each bird, held in place with toothpics. Shut the lid on the smoker and apply your chunks of mesquite indirectly on the fire to start the smoke. Remember, smoke increases heat, so you have to adjust your air vents.

Three hours have passed and you have combined steam, smoke and heat slowing penetrating these soon-to-be-devoured birds.

Open the lid and take a leg by the end and rotate. If the leg comes off easily, the birds are done. Take a bite. Oh my gosh, it will explode in your mouth. The garlic, molasses and smoke will hit each and every taste bud. I just hope one of the chickens makes it from the smoker to the table as it is well known that professional nibblers can strip chicken off a bone like a swirl of piranhas.

Well that’s it. I hope you enjoy this dish. There are many variations, but the key is steam, smoke and spices.

Got to move along now and get upstream from the herd. As for next week, it’ll be a surprise.

“Having a Cowboy attitude means you can ride off into the sunset anytime you want.”