Father's Day At the Grill

The Dad is our household had to cook his own meal yesterday, but what a meal and so inexpensive, too.  We grilled chicken breasts (with skin and bone for added flavor), zucchini and summer squash, red and yellow peppers (on sale), corn on the cob (on sale).  Other sides were black beans (on sale) with onion and garlic and garnished with Mexican cheese (on sale) and cilantro and basil (from the garden).  For dessert, we had a fruit salad of strawberries and blueberries (both on sale) and banana.  I made orange yogurt bread which tasted good with the fruit.  This was a cheap, healthy meal with plenty of fruits and vegetables.  We loved it .  Cost was minimal, and we have leftovers for tonight.  Oh yes!  We also had a salad of tomatoes and avocado with lettuce from the garden.  Seven fruits and veggies with additional herbs and seasonings.  Speaking of seasoning, I gave the chicken a good rub with Penzey's Southwestern Seasoning.


Penzey's have great spices that make even the cheapest eats something special.  You can buy the spices in different sizes, which is handy for the ones you either use a lot of or a little of.  I've been shopping there for years, and have never been disappointed.


We like Barbecue of the Americas for a rub, too.  Penzey's Spices 

We used our smoker to smoke pork chops, and then I made Kassler Ripppen, a German dish impossible to find in Boston.  The smoked pork chops (on sale, natch), are then cooked with aromatic vegetables and saurkraut.  Served with potatoes, it makes a tasty meal.  

Do take advantage of your own garden produce and all the farmer's markets.  There is no reason not to eat cheap and healthy in the summer. 

The Cheeseparer,  

The Colonel's Beer Butt Chicken- With Attitude

Whole chickens were 99cents a pound this week. It's grilling weather. Read on.

The Colonel's Beer Butt Chicken
1 - 3 to 5 lb. whole chicken3 - 12oz cans of beer (Your favorite kind)Seasonings: Any, All or None of the following
· Salt
· Pepper
· Garlic
· Soy Sauce
· Cajun Seasonings
· Hot Sauce
· Lemon
· Seasoned Salt
· Lemon Pepper
· Poultry Seasoning
· Cayenne Pepper
· (Basically use what you like.)
Open one of the cans of beer.......DRINK. (Fun already, huh!) Wash chicken well andremove giblets. Drain. Now rub your choice of spices inside and out. Open the second canof beer.......and insert it into the Southbound end of a Northbound chicken. Youknow, where the chicken's sun don't shine. The beer and the chicken will beable to sit upright on your grill, and that's the position you want. Cover and barbequethe chicken over a low flame (about 350 degrees) for 2-3 hours.
Wiggle the joints of the chicken's leg to check doneness. When the leg wiggleswithout any resistance, the bird is done. Remove the can of beer from thechicken. The beer should be evaporated down to a half a can of beer or less.
Enjoy your dinner with that last beer (if you're not driving) and BBQ sauce onthe side. Also goes great with baked beans and potato salad. Yum!!
Copyright © 1997, Colonel St. James

The Colonel's Homepage