Trailer Trash Supper

Dinner is served!

The husband named this post.  I finally made beer can chicken (he says “beer butt” is more fun to say), after having bought the stand/can holder, oh, 8 years ago), and then Saltine Cracker Toffee by The Girl Who Ate Everything, after I had to look at it on the blog of my pal at Riot & Frolic.

I used this recipe for Beer Can Chicken as my guideline recipe.  I tend not to “use recipes,” but rather follow principles (the chicken goes on a medium-high grill for 1 hour, 15 minutes) and wing it (heh, get it?  chicken?) on the rest.  My adventure started today at Lund’s where I found two, count them, two chickens in the meat case.  Both organic (good), both about $22 (holy cow).  Did everyone else know that a chicken costs so much?  This store is the home of the Five Buck Cluck, which gets you an entire chicken for five dollars.  So when I save them the trouble of preparing it, I pay 400 percent?  Sure.  So, after much deliberating (bickering) in the aisle – and the nice grocery man asking if he could help… – N decided that “beer butt chicken” was still really fun to say, even if it meant spending half a paycheck on the ingredients.

The only canned beer in our fridge?  Coors Light.  Don’t judge, we had a party last weekend and it was left behind.  Some people like it, and I was raised on Busch Light, so I guess I can’t really comment.  I took as many “gulps” as I could manage, per the recipe’s instructions, and then passed it off to the Man to take care of the rest.  This is not tasty beer, people.

I rinsed and patted dry my chicken, greased him up, and dusted him with salt, pepper, and my own special dry rub: BBQ seasoning, ancho chili powder, smoked Spanish paprika, shallot salt (think: garlic salt, only more amazing), and cayenne pepper.  I did not measure, just mixed until it smelled right.
I layered the stand, the beer can, and then the chicken, and put the whole assembly onto the grill.  Note: remove the upper racks first.

While he hung out in his personal sauna, we went through our VHS (I know) collection with a fine-toothed comb.  We’re down to a one-bookshelf stock.  This is in prep for our multi-family garage sale this weekend, and in keeping with our Trailer Trash theme.  I’m thinking a quarter for each movie, or five for a buck.  Come on down!

When Foghorn Leghorn was ready, I took him off the heat and started dessert.  Two sticks of butter, a cup of brown sugar, and a layer of saltines (they are topped with sea salt, now!).  Boil the butter and brown sugar for 3 minutes, pour over the saltines, and bake at 400 degrees for 6 minutes.

The recipe says that when you pull them out, you can just top them with chocolate chips and they will melt.  Notsomuch.  So I put them back in the oven to soften a little more, and finally just smeared them around with a spatula.  The Girl says that when they’re done, they’ll look like this:

They do not.  But if they taste even CLOSE to that picture, I win.

In conclusion… the chicken was the best I’ve ever had.  It was easy, and so tender it was falling off the bone.  Literally.  N picked up a chicken leg, and all the meat fell off, leaving him holding the bone.  The toffee?  Unreal.  It reminds me of something my mom and I used to make, which I will post another day.  Next time I’m pretty sure I’ll add a layer of peanut butter chips, and then the chocolate.  Yes.

Finally, the backdrop to our redneck evening: season one of The Dukes of Hazzard.  What can I say?  We’re into themes.