BBQ Chicken and Baked Beans

First, before we talk food, many of you have been asking about my book. The Twelve Tales of Christmas is a collection of 12 whimsical stories, including Rosalita (part two and three) and Priscilla Piper. The tales range from romance to whimsical children's stories to suspense (Noelle is haunted by her grandmother's fruitcake, literally.) To order, go here or click on the blue button in the side column of my blog. You can also go to lulu.com and type in my name and 12 Tales of Christmas.


And now, for barbecue!



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------







It is a truth universally acknowledged that barbecue, no matter how delicious, never photographs well.

That's right. I just used a Pride and Prejudice reference on barbecue.



I mean, that's the fabulous thing about barbecue, in my opinion. Whether it's ribs (beef, not pork), chicken, brisket, sausage or turkey legs, it all looks about the same. In a professional smoker, it'll be blackened on the outside with pink tender meat on the inside and slathered with sauce. In an oven, it'll be crisp on the outside, tender on the inside and slathered in sauce. On a grill, it'll be slightly charred on the outside, tender on the inside and slathered with sauce.

So no matter which way you cut it, it'll be slathered with sauce.




And I love food slathered with sauce, dripping with dressings and drowned in gravy.



I suppose you could say I'm a girl after my father's heart.


And when you've got good barbecue, you need good barbecue beans.


Like these.


Now, beans have a misfortune in the food world. They're not pretty, they're not particularly colorful and they often look like a simpleton food.



But these beans are my grandma June's beans. And while they're simple to make, they're anything but simple tasting. Bush's Beans and his talking golden retriever don't have anything on my grandma's beans.






The barbecue chicken is part of our New Recipe Series from the Serving Louisiana cookbook my dear mother-in-law gave me for Christmas. I've marked up the majority of this book, so you can be expecting a lot to come from it in the next few weeks. Delicious treats like chicken dressing, chicken and gravy, south of the border pie, chicken spaghetti, chicken and dumplings, brisket, lasagna, creole meatballs, po' boys and baked fish....

Poor Ben. He'll never stick on his diet with me around.



Especially with these in the freezer.

The FDA considers me a hazard to people's health.

But at least we can get some good barbecue in before the dietitians and nutritionists haul me away.




Barbecue Chicken from Serving Louisiana

1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper (Mine was rotten so I used a can of green chilies.)
1 1/2 tblspn Worcestershire sauce
1 tblspn mustard
1 tblspn brown sugar
4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless or one small chicken cut up
1 tblspn garlic salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine ketchup, water, wine vinegar, onion, bell pepper, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and brown sugar in sauce pan. Mix well. Bring to boil then reduce heat.

Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt and pepper. Arrange in baking dish, single layer, and pour sauce over chicken. Bake, covered at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until cooked through.

Serves 4.

And the book says it's only 238 delicious calories. Hooray!




Grandma June's Baked Beans

2 lbs. of pork and beans, canned
4 strips of bacon
1/2 cup chopped onions (or onion powder equivalent)
2 tblspn. brown sugar
1 tblspn. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp yellow mustard.

1) Cook bacon until crisp. Drain and keep 2 tblspn. bacon fat.
2) Cook onions in drippings until tender, not brown.
3) Mix beans with other ingredients in casserole dish. Chop bacon into small pieces and add to remaining ingredients.
4) Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes or 325 degrees for 1 hour 45 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before eating.


Stay tuned, Invisible Friends! Tomorrow we have an interview with the Cookie-Stealing Bunny! Then this weekend, we have a edition of Candy Animals and a special edition of the Gift, where we learn what happened to the flower! Monday will kick off another chapter of the Gift with a week of whimsical fun (and the answer to what is in the letter!)