Barbecue Master Slips Off to See Julie & Julia

I took myself to see Julie & Julia today at the theatre, since the boys are off on vacation. Although I bribed the younger one to go see Mamma Mia (mainly because all the hot high school girls were there to watch it), Julie & Julia was a "no go" with the guys.

There's been quite a bit of buzz about Julie & Julia, but if you've not heard about it . . . it's a film about a young married girl in New York who decided to cook all the recipes in Julia Child's and blog about her one-year adventure. So, the film is all about food and cooking and these two true stories. There's romance too. And, I would attest that it is definately a chick flick, although some of the older women had talked a couple of older gentlemen to attend the showing today.

As I was watching the movie, I wondered how our life would be if I'd taken up French cooking rather than outdoor cooking. As the mom of two boys, I frankly can't imagine it. They get a tad nervous about squash, unless I bread and Southern fry it. Also, I can't imagine cooking (especially grilling) wearing a string of pearls, although I do have a nice set from my Granny. Nope. Makes much more sense to put on a Harley t-shirt and tennis shoes.

I sure did enjoy the movie. It was fun to see a girlie movie for a change. I thought about some of those great dishes, but I ended up with chicken on the grill. Hard to beat that though.

Grilled Chicken and Grilled Garlic Toast

Cole's Garlic Bread on the grill - indirect heat.

Chicken brushed with cooking oil before adding barbecue sauce the last 10 minutes.

YUM!. Some great eating at our house tonight.

After getting the power bill for the month at $189 (and this is a small brack ranch house), we definately grilled tonight. No problem. We love to grill anyway. And, it does help to do the food outdoors instead of heating up the kitchen.

We decided to grill chicken tonight and use Carolina Pride Barbecue sauce which is kind of a blast from the past. My family used Carolina Pride when I was growing up. It's been years since I've bought any. In fact, I've not even noticed it on the shelves at the big grocery stores, but the little IGA in town has only a few choices - Carolina Pride BBQ was one of them.

Chicken can be kind of tricky on the grill especially if you're cooking large pieces like breasts. The key to getting it done without burning it is to use an indirect heating method. You'll see above in the bread picture how our coals were set up for indirect heat. The lid is then put on for most of the cooking time on the chicken - not for the bread though which cooks in minutes.

To keep the chicken from sticking, brush it with a little cooking oil before putting it on the grill. Then add the barbeque sauce during the last few minutes - 5 to 10. Anything tomato based is going to be bad about burning though not as much so with indirect grilling. We still wait and do the sauce near the end.

I've mentioned Texas Toast on the grill. This time I tried another brand - Cole's - since it was on sale. It was terrific. I think I like it even better than the Texas Toast brand. Either is great though.

We rounded out the meal with cheese potatoes in the crock pot (which doesn't heat the kitchen up) and asparagus in the new Glad Simply Cooking microwave cooking bags - just zip and cook a couple of minutes. Very easy. And another dish that keeps the cool going in the kitchen.

Cyndi Allison

FREE Beer Butt Chicken Holder

It's hard to beat Beer Butt Chicken on the grill. It comes out so moist and full of flavor.

If you don't have a beer (perish the thought) or if you generally use bottles (not at all good to put up a chicken on the grill), then Perdue can fix you up.

Buy a Perdue Oven Stuffer chicken. Inside the package (make sure it's marked with the offer), you'll find a code number. Visit the ChickCAN page and fill out the form, including your special number. They'll send you a metal chicken cooking rack which works the same way as the beer can.

Enjoy the freebie!