BBQ Chicken

After having a dream yesterday afternoon (post work) about BBQ chicken, I decided I should go to the grocery store and pick up something to make for dinner. I really don't like going to the grocery store, so usually when I go I try to have a list of what I need planned out so that I don't have to go back and forth from section to section because I've forgotten something. I also like to get in and get out lest I run into someone at 7pm on a Wednesday night when I'm wearing a bathing suit coverup and have pillow lines on my face.

Since I had that dream about BBQ chicken, I decided to get all of the ingredients for that (drumsticks and bbq sauce, easy enough) and the ingredients to make this fusilli with corn and chives pasta salad that my mom makes all the time on the Cape. Like the rice salad, it is good with everything and makes a ton. It also requires very few ingredients so can be done in a short amount of time. Unfortunately it has about zero nutritional value aside from filling you with carbohydrates, but you're not making an entire meal out of it so I think it's fine. I wanted to have some sort of vegetable/salad on the plate so I grabbed stuff for tomatoes and mozzarella (see recipe for that under previous post about summer meal). For some reason while I was there I decided I was in the mood for some chocolate bread pudding so I got the ingredients to make a half batch of it.

By the time I got back to the house around 8pm, I was a little cranky from not having eaten anything since lunch, so I decided a corona/lime might help. It did. Amazing how a cold beer can fix anything.

This is an easy meal to shop for and prepare, since it requires very few ingredients and very little effort. I love bbq chicken and this particular pasta salad so I was happy to make it. When I went to the grocery store, I grabbed tomatoes and mozzarella cheese for the salad (I had basil in the garden which surprisingly didn't die after I brought it to within an inch of its life this June). For the pasta salad I picked up a box of fusilli pasta, chives, butter, and 2 ears of fresh corn (canned works fine too but the fresh was right there). For the chicken, I got a package of 16 drumsticks which was only $8 (I froze the rest for another time....breasts also work if you want white meat). If I was feeling particularly ambitious I would have made my own bbq sauce, alas I was not so I grabbed a thing of Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ and a thing of Chubbs Original. I had heard both were good so I though I'd try them out. If you want to go the extra step and make the chocolate bread pudding, you'll need a loaf of french bread, milk, eggs, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract. Also a container of vanilla ice cream to serve it with. Thankfully we had some beers in the fridge at home so this time when I left the grocery store my bags weren't making that bottles clinking sound per usual.

I made the bread pudding first since it goes into the oven for about 45 minutes, but I will put that recipe last since it is not a main component of the meal. Next I boiled the water for the pasta/corn, while that was boiling I prepared the tomatoes and mozzarella. After those were all prepared I did the chicken since it takes about 10 seconds of prep time.


For the Fusilli with Corn and Chives:

-Boil the pasta as it says on the box, add the ears of corn (shucked) into the water with the pasta so they cook as well (if you are using canned corn just drain and rinse).
-Put 1.5 sticks of butter into a large bowl, when the pasta is ready put it in the bowl hot and stir everything so that the butter melts.
-Cut the corn off the cob, add to bowl.
-Chop up about a 1/2 cup of chives, add those to the bowl.
-Add salt and pepper. Note: you will need to add quite a bit of pepper but taste it along the way so that you get the right amounts.
-Serve at room temperature.
-Note: I halved this recipe and it turned out fine.


For the Chicken:

-Brush each drumstick with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper.
-Put drumsticks on the grill (I budgeted 2 pp), cook for a few mins.
-Brush BBQ sauce onto each drumstick, turn over and brush the other side.
-Repeat for the next 12 minutes or so until they are cooked. You might want to cut into one to make sure they're cooked through.
-Serve with extra bbq sauce on the side.
-Note: Don't marinate the chicken in the bbq sauce, apparently it turns bitter. I have no idea if this is true but my friend Kendall told me this and since she is from Memphis aka the bbq capital of the country, I believe her. The chicken was very flavorful with just the brushing on of the sauce anyway.


For the Chocolate Bread Pudding:
-Cut up french bread into 1 inch cubes, place in a large baking dish or brownie pan, sprinkle with 1/2 cup of choc chips.
-In a bowl, mix together 4 cups of milk, 4 eggs, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 cup of sugar, and a tablespoon of vanilla.
-Pour chocolate milk mixture over bread cubes and bake in a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes.
-Note: I also halved this recipe and put it in a smaller 9x9 dish. It turned out fine. Bread pudding is incredibly hard to mess up, and the leftovers can be kept in the fridge and microwaved to be served again. In fact, this is how many restaurants in New Orleans do it (someone who worked in a kitchen told me).
-Serve with vanilla ice cream. I also bought some raspberries at the store and sprinkled those on the dessert plates and it really jazzed it up. Any fruit is fine if you want a little extra color on the plate.

This meal was/is probably one of the easiest and least time consuming to prepare as everything but the chicken can be done in advance. My two guests loved both flavors of the bbq sauces and went back for seconds. Although I halved everything to make it for 3 people, it is an easy and inexpensive meal to make for a large group, and perfect for the hot weather here.


Love and Happy Hostessing!