Get Your Grill On One Last Time
How can it be Labor Day already? That’s the question we ask ourselves when the end of August comes into view and we know we have one last hot date with the grill before we need to bring along a sweater. Here is a Labor Day menu to celebrate American workers that should earn you some extra time off and won’t leave you exhausted.
Beer Can Chicken with Hot Pumpkin Seed Rub
Roasted Asparagus and Friends
Scandinavian-Style Potato Salad
Orange-You-Glad-I-Didn’t-Say-Banana Splits
Beer Can Chicken with Hot Pumpkin Seed Rub
This is one of the easiest ways to fix a whole chicken that we know, and involves only the skill of balancing a gutted chicken (see picture) like a tripod on top of a beer can and the use of a meat thermometer. The spice combinations are limited only by your creative little minds. Here’s a version we made up recently.
1 can of your favorite beer (we prefer something with a little body, like a lager)
1 whole chicken, 3-4 lbs., rinsed and patted dry inside and out, innards removed
1 Tb. Peanut oil
½ c. raw pumpkin seeds
¼ t. cayenne pepper, or more to taste
1 Tbs. black peppercorns
1 Tbs. Kosher salt
Pour half the beer into a frosted glass and drink while you prepare the rest.
Toast the raw pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat until they begin to brown and pop. Set aside to cool.
Light the grill for indirect cooking, i.e. make a hot fire on one side only.
Once the seeds are cool, combine in a spice grinder or a coffee grinder with the peppers and salt. Blend until they resemble course sand.
Take a tablespoon or so of the spice blend and put it into the half-full beer can. Once the beer gets nice and hot, the spices will bubble up inside the chicken, adding incredible flavor.
Using clean hands, rub the chicken lightly with the peanut oil, and then massage remaining spice mixture into the skin and inside the cavity.
Place the beer can in the center of the cool side of the grill and gently impale the chicken on top. This may require a few adjustments of the legs to get the right balance, but once it’s up, it shouldn’t fall down.
Close the grill lid and let the chicken cook for about 70 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 180. The skin should be crisp and brown, the chicken juices inside should run clear.
Using mitts and tongs, gently pull the chicken off the can and place the chicken on a platter to rest for a few minutes. Remove the hot can from the grill VERY CAREFULLY as it may be boiling, and toss it once it’s cool.
Quarter the chicken and serve 4.
Roasted Asparagus and Friends
We call this “and friends” because you can add any number of additional veggies. Here we choose to use the surplus tomatoes from the garden and our year-round pal, garlic.
1 large bunch of asparagus-the fatter the better
3 or more cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole
1 large roughly chopped tomato or a handful of cherry tomatoes
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
3 Tbs. olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste.
When the chicken is almost done, place cleaned and trimmed asparagus either in a shallow aluminum foil roasting pan for the grill or a jellyroll pan if you’re putting it into the oven.
Toss asparagus with the balsamic and oil, salt and pepper. Roast in 400-degree oven or on the hot side of the grill for 10 minutes until the asparagus begins to char at the top and shrivel slightly.
Toss in the tomatoes and whole garlic cloves for a quick 5-10 minute roast; remove the garlic cloves before serving, unless you like to eat that sort of thing.
Serves 4-6 as a hot or cold side dish.
Scandinavian-Style Potato Salad
There’s something about dill that snaps boring old potato salad to life and evokes fantasies of tall blonde men rowing boats in the short days of Swedish sunshine. Or maybe it’s just us.
1 lb. small red or white potatoes
¼ cup finely chopped scallions
3/4 c. sour cream
2-3 Tbs. chopped fresh dill
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Scrub potatoes, chop in half or quarters and boil them without peeling first for about 10 minutes. When they are cool enough to handle, slip the skins off if you must.
While the potatoes are still warm, toss in remaining ingredients. Let cool. Refrigerate several hours or overnight for best flavor.
If the salad looks dry the day of serving, stir in a little more sour cream. Serves 4.
Orange-You-Glad-I-Didn’t-Say-Banana Splits
This is your chance to make guests do a little labor. It can be a free for all, but bad knock-knock joke aside, we make a modest suggestion based on our ice-cream scooping days in high school that orange sherbet, hot fudge, salty peanuts, whipped cream and bananas make an excellent combination. Choose firm, ripe bananas. Put the bunch in the fridge an hour or so before using – they may get slightly brown but their firmer texture will stand up better to your fixins.
Slice the bananas lengthwise; place in bowls or on plates when ready to serve.
Whip some cream, arrange an assortment of ice creams, toppings and nuts out on the counter, and let your guests assemble their own. Plan on extra napkins.
Photo by Flickr user elconde and used under a Creative Commons license.