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!)
January 8th, 2009 at 3:50 am
At an older age I’m just beginning to like BBQ [very slowly]
I sure do like that smile on your face, though and those cookies the bunny steals
January 8th, 2009 at 4:31 am
Cheeseball! Love your mile wide smile! Looks like no one could pry those ribs from your hands! Yummy.
January 8th, 2009 at 4:36 am
Wow that looks yummy, just the thought makes me drool.£Totally agree sometimes it is difficult to take a good pic, even thught the dish is yummy delicious.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:15 am
Thanks for the info on the book. I will go check it out right now! And I love barbecue and beans. You are right about beans looking attractive. They are the girl next door of the food world.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:15 am
it only gets better when I am sitting down to a bowl of this…mmmmmmmm
January 8th, 2009 at 5:15 am
There are a couple of things I love by, you can never have too much BBQ sauce, garlic or hairspray
Your BBQ chicken and beeans look wonderful. Yes, these pictures have me drooling!
January 8th, 2009 at 5:52 am
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM…..what else is there to say?
January 8th, 2009 at 6:00 am
OH! I am dumbstruck. You have a book! That is sooooo great and cool and W-O-W! What an achivement! I am so honored to be one of your followers, I really mean this!
And yeah, I’m currently on this healthy living diet and looking at the pictures you posted and reading through the recipes left my mouth watering. YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!
January 8th, 2009 at 6:01 am
Oh yum!!! This meal looks delish!!! My stomach is growling!
January 8th, 2009 at 6:20 am
Ben may not stay on his diet, but how could he be unhappy with cinnamon rolls in the freezer?
January 8th, 2009 at 6:43 am
Sounds like an adorable book that I will check out. Nice barbecue chicken recipe especailly for the winter. Thanks for stopping by my daughter’s blog. She is thrilled that she has comments.
January 8th, 2009 at 6:47 am
Your beans reminded me of how my grandfather would doctor up a can of beans almost ingredient for ingredient. He never added bacon though. My maternal grandparents were too fat-phobic. Obviously I didn’t take afte that side of the family.
January 8th, 2009 at 6:51 am
Sweet Blond Duck you are killing me here. This looks good. I might have to make this sometime on a free day. Hugs, Bobbi Jo
January 8th, 2009 at 6:54 am
Everything looks great, I love baked beans. I tried the barefoot contessa’s baked beans a few months back, they were quite good.
January 8th, 2009 at 7:47 am
I’m a veggie but you’re still making me hungry, bring on the beans!! Wishing you lots of luck with the book sales :0)
January 8th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Mmm, everything looks delicious. (By the way, with the muffin tins – only fill the ones you are NOT using, this keeps the pan from burning – fill them 1/4 to 1/3 full!)
January 8th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Wow, I am suddenly SOOOO hungry!
January 8th, 2009 at 8:26 am
That BBQ chicken sounds awesome. I may have to add that to my list of morsels to make! Healthy and delicious. Bonus.
January 8th, 2009 at 8:50 am
I love BBQ I cant wait to try these beans. I love good BBQ beans.
January 8th, 2009 at 8:53 am
You are so making me drool! I love bbq in any shape and form. Very good observation about bbq not photographing well, BTW!
January 8th, 2009 at 9:28 am
What a delicious dinner and yum, cinnamon rolls for dessert!
January 8th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Your BBQ dinner looks delicious dear Duckie! Thanks for the recipe. My husband loves BBQ, so I may be making that in the very near future!
I love your book. It has been making the rounds as my children read it. Everyone loves it!
XOXOXOXOXO
Jen
January 8th, 2009 at 10:02 am
You can be sure that I will be trying both recipes. Mouth watering good.
January 8th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Everything looks great. I love barbecue sauce and your recipe sounds great. So, I’ll have to give it a try later this week.
January 8th, 2009 at 10:10 am
I’m sitting here eating a bagel.. but I would much prefer a bagel with baked beans and a good read! Congratulations on the publication of The Twelve Tales Of Christmas!!
January 8th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Oh, I’ll have to look for that cookbook…..my heritage and all….
the bbq looks scrumptious, as do the beans.
Thanks for the recipes!
thanks for visiting my blog, too!
Suzanne
January 8th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
LOL – it is true that neither beans nor barbecue photograph well, but reading between the lines, they look delicious anyway!
January 8th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
YUMMY! Duckie.
Throw me a piece to munch on tonight. I am now officially STARVING!
January 8th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
I gained five pounds just looking at the photos. OMG those cinnamon rolls. Food porn is a slippery slope, first I look at your photos and then I want the real thing!
January 8th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Absolutely mouthwatering wow, I love it..love it. Nothing beats a good ole’ BBQ. You are so hilarious.
January 8th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I haven’t had barbecue in so long…
January 8th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
How in the WORLD are you so skinny if you make food like that?!?!?!
Goodness!
Well it all looks super delicious!
January 8th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
mmm…i’d love me a cinnamon roll right about now
January 8th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
You are def not a salad and water kinda girl!
January 8th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Just love BBQ anything…. now pass some of that chicken, please!!!!
January 8th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Mmm… a girl after my own heart
Love me a good BBQ any day!
January 8th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
You are a crack-up with your love of all things BBQ:)
January 8th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
This is so exciting! I just ordered a copy. And I’m so glad I did b/c it made me discover that I seem to have misplaced one of my credit cards … too much wine last night at dinner. Anyway, I cannot wait for your book to arrive and to be able to read stories before bed that are printed not on computer paper but in a real bounded book. Amazing!
The bbq looks and sounds awesome.
Congrats again on your book.
January 9th, 2009 at 12:06 am
Speaking from experience it is really hard to make saucy things look good in food photos, especially barbeque and of course beans. Your recipes look mighty tasty though and how could a grandmother’s recipe ever be anything but delicious!!! It just can’t!!! Must try these. Can’t wait to see what you show/write for us next!! Love you sweet friend. XXOO
January 9th, 2009 at 10:12 am
all right, so what could be better than a meal of barbecue and baked beans? knowing that there are some cinnamon rolls just waiting for me in the freezer. you do know the way to my heart, miranda.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:22 am
YUM! I wish I could cook!!!!!
January 9th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
If those are better than Bush’s beans, I’m going to try them. I LOVE baked beans!
January 9th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
It looks like grandma found a great way to jazz up the beans, chicken sounds good too.
January 10th, 2009 at 5:41 am
that all looks so yummy… thanks for sharing!
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:59 am
yumm!!! sound rili gooddd.. cant wait to try this out.. love your blog too.. keep it up
cheers!!
nora