Wet-Smoked Indoor Barbecue

 

Disclaimer

This isn't actually a barbecue recipe according to the "outdoors, open fire" definition. It is, in fact, finished under an oven broiler.

Context
I live in an apartment. My stove's exhaust fan
vents directly into the kitchen. On top of that, the smoke alarm is hypersensitive. If I set my toaster control above 4, then even the neighbors know when the toast is done.

Even so, I love smoky barbecue meat, especially chicken, so here's how I make do.

Ingredients

- 4 Chicken Thighs

- 4 Ounces (Colgin) Liquid Smoke, Hickory (vary amount to taste)

- 4 Cups Chicken Broth or Water+Salt to taste

- 4 Ounces Barbecue Sauce (Store-bought or DIY)

Preparation

1. Place Broth (or Salted Water), Chicken Thighs, and Liquid Smoke in a pot, with sufficient liquid to cover the chicken.

2. Bring to simmer, cover, and cook for 35 minutes to 165℉ internal temperature (or held at 140℉ for 8 minutes).

3. Remove Chicken Thighs to a greased (Cooking Spray) broiler pan, skin side up.

4. Turn on oven broiler, adjust rack to upper position so that the chicken will be 2 to 6 inches under the broiler element, depending on the broiler. I do most of my work in a toaster oven, hence I tend to place the meat closer to the element.

5. Brush on Barbecue Sauce to top and sides of the Chicken Thighs.

6. Place broiler pan with chicken on upper oven rack.

7. Brown chicken to desired doneness, 4 to 8 minutes, depending on oven broiler and rack height.

8. Remove broiler pan from oven, turn Chicken Thighs skin down, brush on sauce, and return under broiler, for 4 to 8 minutes.

9. If desired, turn thighs once more, brush on sauce, broil for 2 to 4 minutes.

10. Serve, with Barbecue Sauce on the side.

Serves 2, depending on the size of the Thigh portions.

Notes

- Save the cooking broth. It can be frozen and reused for "smoking" more chicken or other meat. It can also be used to flavor soup, gravy, or other sauces.

- This recipe can be used for other meats, such as Country Style Ribs.

- Additional herbs and spices can be added to the cooking liquid, to taste, e.g., Sage, Marjoram, Cayenne, Thyme, etc.

;^)

Hearty One-Skillet Meal

This dish has become a favorite, recently. It's a variation of a recipe from the Food Wishes channel on YouTube. There, Chef John presents it as an oven-roasted, open skillet that's started on the stove top. I discovered that I liked it better when I finished it, covered, and all on the stove top, no oven. It depends on how you like it. In the oven, it's finished crispy and caramelized, my version is moist and tender, with some caramelization on the meat. And it's also a bit easier.

To keep it simple, go ahead and watch the Food Wishes recipe linked above, it's only seven-and-a-half minutes, as most of Chef John's presentations are brief and practical. Then I'll list what I do that's different.

1. I use a 12-inch Cook's Standard stainless steel fry pan with dome lid (available on Amazon). It could be prepared in a cast iron or non-stick skillet, but it won't develop a flavorful fond.

2. On MEDIUM, start with hot oil or fat (chicken, bacon, lard, whatever) in the pan. Add the chicken thighs skin side UP in the center of the pan, then add any uncooked (fresh, not smoked) sausage¹ around the thighs.
3. Let that meat brown, uncovered, on one side while cutting up the peppers, onions and potatoes².
4. Turn all the browning meat over, thighs skin DOWN. Add any cooked (smoked) sausage then distribute the veggies, keeping the meat on the bottom of the pan to maximize browning.
5. I season liberally with Lawry's, black pepper, granulated garlic, marjoram, sage, summer savory, parsley and a little rosemary and basil. A bay leaf is optional, but it's not a flavor I like. And a little cayenne, if I'm using sweet (non-spicy) peppers.
6. Brown 5 minutes on MEDIUM.
7. COVER, turn to LOW for 40 minutes.
8. Serve    
                
¹ I've used fresh and smoked kielbasa, bratwurst, hot links, andouille, both sweet and hot Italian sausages and cut-up country-style ribs, usually in combinations of two types. The rib meat didn't bring enough flavor whereas the chicken seems to absorb it. The sausage is easier to manage if I wait to cut it up until after cooking.

² I prefer the poblano (aka, ancho) peppers from my small hydroponic garden, but I've also used red bell peppers and canned diced green chiles. I've discovered that I can never have too much onion and it's nearly the same with potatoes. But maybe that's just me.

;^)

Easy Homemade Chicken Soup or Chicken n' Dumplings

Photo**

This chicken soup is so easy, I’m going to list all of the measurments in metric, just so you feel like you’ve done something special.

Ingredients

- 1 Whole Deli-roasted Chicken from the grocery store (day-old is good, if the price is marked down) NOTE 1: Roasted chicken, not fried. NOTE 2: Turns out, counting chickens is the same whether in imperial or metric systems. Go figure.

- 2 Liters Water

- Noodles, pasta or dumplings of your choice, amount by personal preference (I like a lot.) Try angel hair pasta broken into 2 cm pieces.

- (Optional) Mirepoix (chopped onion, celery and carrots)  As much or as little as you want, for both color and flavor. NOTE: Mirepoix (MEER-pwah) is the fancy-schmancy French cuisine name for this basic flavor combo, traditionally, two parts onions, one part carrots, and one part celery.

Preparation

- Drop the chicken in a large pot. (Add mirepoix)

- Cover with water (use more water as necessary).

- Bring to a boil and then simmer one hour, covered.

Kroger's roast chicken.

- Remove chicken and taste the broth, add salt, pepper or spices to taste. NOTE: Usually these deli-roasted birds are so heavily salted and spiced that no further seasoning is needed. If you think it needs more spice, try adding some poultry seasoning.

- Bring the broth to a boil and add your pasta, noodles or dumplings, cook according to their directions.

- While the noodles are cooking, carefully (it’ll be HOT) break apart the chicken and pull the meat into bite-sized chunks. Use two forks if the chicken’s too hot to touch.

- Add the meat back to the broth.

- Serve

Variations

Chicken and dumplings**

Chicken Vegetable Soup
- Add some mixed frozen or canned veggies to the broth with the noodles.
Chicken and Dumplings
- Including mirepoix and/or other vegetables, especially carrots and onions, is common.
- Stir in a little roux (you can always add more) to thicken the finished broth. (Presto! Broth becomes stew.)
- Cut refrigerator biscuits into bite-sized pieces, drop on top of simmering stew.
- Cover and simmer about 20-25 minutes.
- Pull the chicken into chunks, add back to finished stew.

;^)