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June 30, 2006
Comments Closed
Due to a large amount of automated spam hitting our blog, The General has decided to close all comments until we can remedy the situation. Of course you can always email us at bbqgeneral at gmail dot com.
TG
Posted by The General at 10:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackJune 24, 2006
Red Truck Picnic
Savannah lends itself to a lot of gorgeous places to have a picnic...from the outer beaches of Tybee to Bonaventure Cemetery....to innumerable other locations. The theme for this week's Carnival of the Recipes is "On the Road," so check it out over at "Booklore." The General has taken a particular quote from John Egerton's Southern Cooking that I thought was very fitting for this occasion.
This was written by Ward McAlester (1890) in the book
Society As I Have Found It.
"I was then able to show my guests a Savannah picnic, which is an institution peculiar to the place. Leaving the city in a river steamer our party consisting of one hundred people, after little over an hour's sail we reached an island in the Atlantic Ocean , known as Dawfuskie (sic), a beautiful spot on which stood a charming residence, with five acres of roses surrounding the house. The heads of families carried, each of them, huge baskets containing their dinner, and a full table service, wine, etc., for say ten or a dozen people. On our arrival, all formed into groups under the trees, a cloth was laid on the ground, dishes, plates and glasses arranged on it, and the champagne at once frapped in small hand pails. There was then a dance in the open air, on a platform, and in the afternoon, with cushions as seats for the ladies, these improvised dinner-tables were filled. Each had its separate hostess; all was harmony and pleasure. As night approached, the people re-embarked on the steamer and returned home by moonlight."
Savannah has not lost an ounce of this "party spirit" over a hundred years later!
Just to up the fun level of producing our picnic this week we have invited a couple of new found friends over to help us produce our picnic as well as consume it. For today's menu TG has taken 2 recipes from Mike Mills' book
Peace, Love and Barbecue.
The first is "Right off the Jar" Potato Salad (p.216):
2 lbs. potatoes (5 or 6 medium), peeled and cut into 3/4 " chunks
1 C Hellman's mayonnaise
2 T vinegar
1 1/2 t salt
1 t sugar
1/4 t ground black pepper
1 C thinly sliced celery
1/2 C chopped onion
2 hard cooked eggs, chopped (optional)
In a 4 quart saucepot, cover potatoes with water; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes until potatoes are tender. Drain and cool slightly.
In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, sugar, and pepper. Add potatoes, celery, onion, and eggs. Toss gently. Serve chilled. or at room temperature.
The second is Blue Smoke Deviled Eggs (p. 217)
12 large eggs
2/3 C mayonnaise
1 1/2 t tarragon-infused champagne vinegar
2 1/2 t Dijon mustard
3/4 t mustard powder
1/4 t cayenne
1/2 t curry powder
Finely ground kosher salt and ground black pepper
Magic Dust or your favorite dry rub
Place the eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for exactly 9 minutes. Pour off most of the water and immediately run cold water over the eggs.
Crack the eggshells and peel the eggs under running water. Cut a small sliver off both ends of each egg and halve them through the equator, forming round cups.
Remove the yolks and pass them through a fine sieve into a bowl. Add the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustards, cayenne and curry powder to the bowl and mix together with a rubber spatula until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon the egg-yolk mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe the mixture into the egg whites to form rosettes. (Or use a teaspoon to mound the yolk into the egg whites.) Sprinkle the top of the eggs with Magic Dust. Keep chilled until ready to serve.
***After cooking from Cape Cod to San Diego, TG experienced a problem in boiling the eggs. The shells did not want to give up when trying to peel them. And totally tore up the surface of the egg white. A little bit embarrassing, but we talked to a couple of our chef friends and they admitted that it was all too common a problem. The theory is that sometimes the eggs are too fresh and you get the easiest shell removal from one that has "been around" for a while. An antidote for the problem is to pierce the large end of the egg with a small pin hole...also adding a little vinegar to the water. I have since found out that on an institutional basis one can purchase already boiled and peeled eggs.
Now for the main course for our picnic, I decided to cook The General's Championship Chicken using leg quarters. Leg quarters are probably the most inexpensive cut of the chicken, and when you have a large amount of people to feed...and not much of a budget, this is the way to go. Most of the time they are priced under a dollar a pound. But actually it contains the best part of the chicken which is the thigh meat. Being raised in the South, we always had chicken breasts and it has taken quite an adjustment and cooking on the competition circuit to realize how juicy and tender thigh meat is. But the leg is also a favorite...so you get both.
Round out this picnic with some sliced watermelon and a glass of Cline Red Truck table wine!
Bon Apetit
***Addendum
Here are a few food safety tips for a picnic:
1. If you are going to use mayonnaise and mustard for your sandwiches, buy a small jar of both at your local supermarket. And don't open them or refrigerate them until you intend to use it at your picnic. This may seem silly since you probably already have mayo in your fridge, but it is a lot safer! We like Hellman's mayo and Grey Poupon Dijon mustard.
2. Always refrigerate your cold items in a cooler. Sam's sells a great insulated bag for about $7.00. Use Zip Loc bags for your food and you can also use Zip Loc bag for your ice to keep the ice from melting and running all over your food.
3. Consume any foods that are not "shelf stable." For instance, fried chicken should be iced down or consumed within a two hour period. Potato chips are shelf stable and you can leave them out until they turn stale.
June 22, 2006
The Versatility of Pork
Much too often we get in a rut when cooking pork because we translate pork into chops or pulled, chopped, or shredded for BBQ sandwiches. At our local supermarket I found "Pork Florentine" for our dinner last night. It consisted of sliced pork loin that had been pounded to about 1/2 " thick, then it was rolled with spinach and mozzarella cheese.
I then fired up the grill and cooked these rolls over direct heat until they reached an internal temperature of 165*. (Turning often during the cooking process.) The General and his LW were very pleased with the results and it served as a good reminder that you can always upscale your pork!
June 20, 2006
John Egerton
Old cookbooks and old friends have a lot in common. Yesterday I picked up my autographed copy of John Egerton's Southern Food: At Home, On the Road, In History
.
John is a foremost authority and writer about Southern foods and is a founder of Southern Foodways Alliance. Like catching up with an old friend, it didn't take me long to browse through the book and see all of the notes I made...especially about BBQ!
I like some of the quotes he has assembled in the book and there are a couple that particularly pertain to BBQ:
"The barbecue addict who is also a seasoned traveller looks only at the parking lot to pre-judge the restaurant's product. If pickup trucks are parked beside expensive imports, he knows the barbecue is good because everyone in town eats there. More than any other cuisine barbecue draws the whole of Southern society from down the street and from miles around."
(Gary D. Ford, Southern Living, May, 1982.)
"No one who has had the good fortune to attend a barbecue will ever forget it. The smell of it all, the meat slowly roasting to a delicious brown over smoking fires, the hungry and happy crowds....
"Cue" is what they call it in Georgia, where it has been famous for many, many years. England had its roast beef and plum-pudding dinners, Rhode Island its clambakes, Boston its pork and beans, but Georgia has its barbecue which beats them all. So famous is it, in fact, that it has become a social and political force, and as a political entertainment has been duplicated in many States of the Union....It is no exaggeration to say that many a gubernatorial election in Georgia has been carried by means of votes gained at barbecues, and no campaign for Governor is complete without a series of such popular feasts."
(John R. Watkins, Strand Magazine, London, October 1898)
BBQ is truly America's classic cuisine that draws people from all economic and social backgrounds together like a 'common denominator'.
June 19, 2006
Change of Tune
TLW has told me that I can only blog about turkey during the holiday season, however with the diet she is on it calls for lots of turkey. After reading the labels on processed turkey breast she then found out how much sodium content is in the prepackaged turkey products...so The General to the rescue!!
I used the Steve Raichlen rub mentioned earlier along with a nice slathering of olive oil. I then set the grill up for indirect cooking, and using soaked cherry wood the smoking process began...
You just can't buy a store bought product that will ever be as good as what you can do at home!
Posted by The General at 11:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackAnother Rub
I tried the rub that Steve Raichlen recommends in the Slate article The General mentioned last week. It calls for equal parts of salt (preferably sea salt), freshly ground black pepper, paprika and brown sugar. You can make as much or as little as you want...as long as you keep your ingredients balanced.
TG has already mentioned in the past about Karen Adler and the BBQ Queens Big Book of BBQ and how much I use her books. Here are a couple of her rubs for you to try also:
Cajun Steak Rub
1 T garlic powder
1 T ground black pepper
1 T sweet Hungarian paprika
1 1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 T kosher or sea salt
1/2 t ground white pepper
Brisket Rub
1/2 C kosher salt
1/4 C garlic powder
1/4 C lemon pepper seasoning
1/4 C light or dark brown sugar
3 T ground chipolte
3 T mesquite seasoning
3 T dried thyme
3 T ground cumin
The BBQ Queens also recommend McCormick seasonings and McCormick GrillMates. Check out their website.
Rubs are fun because they give you the opportunity to be a junior chemist and practice and experiment until you get just the right taste.
Posted by The General at 11:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackCarnival of the Recipes #96
The "Father's Day" version of the carnival is up and running over at "World Famous Recipes." Lots of good ideas for any day of the year...not just Father's Day!
June 17, 2006
The Post-Modern BLT
If you don't know about the Southern Foodways Alliance...you should! The SFA's mission is to "document and celebrate the diverse food cultures of the American South."
The General and TLW joined this great organization a couple of years ago and have been to some of their 'fieldtrips.' If you like good food, learning about it, meeting others who share your interests, and generally having a wonderful time, you may want to consider joining as well!
Check out their website...right now they are calling for some recipes and accessories to the standard BLT. Perhaps your version will be published by the University of Mississippi!
Cooking with Fire
Slate Magazine published an interesting article Friday. It is a "discussion" among three foodies (Steven Raichlen, Chris Schlesinger, and Sara Dickerman) about BBQ and cooking with fire. It takes the form of letters to each other.
Regular readers know that The General thinks very highly of Steve and Chris, and now he wants to know more about Sara. She picked up on the theme I mentioned last week...what do you grill for your vegetarian friends?
Interesting reading...
June 14, 2006
A Surprise Lunch
Today I accompanied TLW on a bunch of errands to the part of town we call 'The Mall.' We don't usually go into either Mall...but it is an easy way to label it. We always go to the point that is the farthest from our house and work our way back.
We have passed Carrabba's Italian Grill at least 50 times since we have moved here, but never once have we ever set foot in there...or any of their restaurants. Today I had a feeling we should stop for lunch...and of course the ever-willing missus agreed.
Upon entering, we were greeted by a very vivacious and competent hostess/waitress (Karen) who seated us immediately. After taking our drink orders she returned immediately with them and instantaneously appeared with bread...nothing unusual about this so far. Then she reappeared with Ceasar salads, plopped them down and disappeared.
TLW is on a damn diet and lately never orders Ceasar salads...but after giving each other a few strange looks we decided to dig in and ask questions later. Nearly finished with the salads we still had not seen a menu...so TLW thought that perhaps it was a "surprise lunch" kinda place...just show up and get whatever they have prepared for lunch...a unique idea for a restaurant! We finally flagged down Karen, and asked if we could have a menu and she started laughing!!...at The General...of course she was nice about the laugh.
It seems Carrabba's is never open for lunch. But today they were having a fundraiser for a local boy named Chris Barr who has recently had a kidney transplant and all the proceeds of the lunch were going to him. Apparently Carrabba's does a lot of charity work...way to go Carrabba's!! She told us that his monthly medications cost around $6,000 a month!
Karen apologized for not making us aware of it when we walked in...but I think we must be the only people on the planet who do not know Carrabba's is not open for lunch! She said if we did not like Chicken Marsala (again NOT on TLW's meal plan) we could leave and the drinks and salads were on her...how could we say 'no?' So we stayed, and were presented with chicken marsala and rigatoni with red sauce. Now I will say up front that I am not a chicken fan...in fact I eat very little of those fellas...but both of us agreed that the chicken itself was extremely moist and flavorful. The marsala sauce was wonderful...and I noticed TLW did not hesitate to eat her chicken with the sauce.
As we were finishing (and continuing to chuckle over our surprise lunch) a lady came over to our table and introduced herself to us as Chris's mother. She thanked us for coming and told us more about his plight and how he received his kidney. Unfortunately, TLW did not get the correct address for his website :-(
Lessons learned today:
1) How lucky we are to have our health...how can one pay for medicines costing 6K a month.
2) Carrabba's has very good food.
3) Carrabba's gives back. That is a good thing. We like to give back and they will be rewarded for doing that.
4) Carrabba's has a great staff. I betcha that every employee there was giving their time to make this lunch successful
TLW found the following recipe for a "copycat" version of Carrabba's Chicken Marsala today. The General suggests you try it at home, but he also suggests that you go to your local location and see if all of the Carrabba restaurants are as generous with their time.
PS...when we were leaving we noticed that they had put up a small sign on the front door indicating the special event taking place...thanks, Karen!
Copy Cat Recipe for Carrabba's Chicken Marsala
4 tablespoons butter
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
4 shallots, chopped fine
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup dry marsala
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Pound chicken breasts to even out thickness and lightly salt and pepper.
In large skillet, saute chicken in 2 T melted butter until lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side.
Remove from pan and set aside.
Melt remaining butter in pan and add shallots and mushrooms.
Cook until mushrooms are lightly browned.
Add Marsala and bring to a boil, scraping browned bits from bottom of pan.
Add cream and lemon juice and return to a boil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Return chicken to pan for about 3 minutes to reheat and finish cooking.
Serve with buttered fettucini.
**The comments for this recipe were very good. We were told that Carrabba's grills their chicken, but this recipe is worth trying. We will...and we will go back to CIG.
Wine and BBQ Pairings
There was an article in our paper today by Brian Goodell who calls himself "The Wine Guy." He told The General what I have long since known...that a good red zinfandel wine pairs great with smoked and grilled foods. He also adds that it goes well with venison, lamb and pasta.
Some of his picks are Ravenswood or Rosenblum Cellars...both sold in the low teens. To upgrade, he recommends 7 Deadly Zins from Lodi. He also recommends Rodney Strong and he claims Zinfandel is 'America's Red Wine.'
This is always something I have been big on...pairing the right wine with the right BBQ. Now you have some important research to this weekend. The General is familiar with the different Ravenswood offerings as well as 7 Deadly Zins...if you have other favorites...please share.
Some wine sites TLW frequents are eRobert Parker.com and Professor Bainbridge.
June 12, 2006
Vegetarians
Since most of us are into grilling and smoking meats, what do you do when a vegetarian shows up for dinner? First, they should let you know in advance about their eating 'style.' Second, you need to make some inquiries, just like when we cater for a Jewish synagogue. We have found that for every Jewish person, there is different set of rules. The same thing holds true for vegetarians.
Here are some suggestions:
1. I have previously discussed grilled portobella mushrooms with bell peppers and onions.
2. Boca Burgers made from soy beans.
3. Grilled vegetables using a perforated pan and treat them like stir fry.
4. Vegetable wraps.
5. Baked Idaho or baked sweet potatoes with a selection of vegetable toppings.
6. Meatless lasagna and other pasta dishes.
Our son recently arrived here with some weekend guests. We did not know one of them was a vegetarian until the dinner was cooking. She ended up loving the sliced and grilled portobella mushrooms with onions and peppers, the baked potato salad with sour cream (even though it had bacon in it she picked it out!) and corn on the cob. I must say she was not a "picky" vegetarian and was delightful guest!
In Memoriam
In the six months that I have been bloggin', I have always tried to steer clear of politics and personal interests outside of food. I have dedicated myself to teaching BBQ and grilling to the foodies who love it.
However, today I make an exception to that policy as we mourn the loss of our best friend and companion, our ten and a half year old German Shepherd. Mars was with us when we won the South Carolina state championship, so we have always thought of him as our "lucky" dog...at least until the last year of his life when he contracted a disease called German Shepherd myelopathy(read more) which is the canine equivalent of ALS or Lou Gherig's disease. It destroys the muscles and nerves and on Friday afternoon he could no longer walk.
He put up a valiant fight without ever complaining and was an inspiration to us.
Mars, we miss you!
.
Posted by The General at 01:50 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBackJune 06, 2006
Carnival of the Recipes
#94 is up and running with a "Missing the Spring TV Shows" theme. Check it out at Mountaineer Musings! Thanks, Sarah!
Posted by The General at 09:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackJune 05, 2006
Leftover pork tenderloin and Cuban sandwiches
What do you do with 20 already cooked pork tenderloins? They were left over from a party and they were oven baked.
The General thought they could use a little bit more flavor...and of course some smoke from the grill. TLW and I went to the market and bought a gallon of Mojo...a Spanish/Cuban marinade. I marinated them for 24 hours and then lit the grill for indirect cooking.
I let them smoke for a couple of hours to get a little smoke penetration...and I must say the flavor profile was there! However, pork tenderloin is a very delicate cut of meat and we all thought that they were a tad dry.
This whole exercise was about making Cuban sandwiches and the meat is certainly usable for that!
Here is the spec on a Cuban sandwich.
4 oz. roast pork, sliced
4 oz. ham, sliced
Yellow mustard
Swiss cheese
Bread and butter pickles
Some good crusty Cuban bread (or French)
Here is the best use I have found for a George Foreman type grill:
After you have assembled the sandwich, spray the top and bottom of the bread with spray margarine and crank up the George Forman or a sandwich press.
Toast for about 5 minutes and you've got yourself one serious Cuban sandwich.
A couple of serious sides that can go with your sandwich would be black beans and/or black beans and rice with diced onions on top or a partially baked sweet potato cut into medallions, grilled and basted with a mixture of butter and maple syrup. Another side you might want to experiment with if it is available in your area would be grilled plantains. Now you have a very authentic Cuban meal.
OK...so now The General wants to know what you would do with the 20 leftover tenderloins????
Posted by The General at 06:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackJune 04, 2006
Spotted in our backyard
While our son and his friends were visiting last weekend, we were asked if we had seen any alligators in our lagoon. Yes, indeedy! Last September, "Trapper Jack" and a helper came to our neighborhood and wrastled an eight foot alligator out of the lagoon almost directly in front of our home. The local news even had a crew here to film the whole episode. Trapper Jack used a cow lung (or was it bladder?) on the end of a mighty strong fishin' pole and casually waited for the critter to bite. Bite it did, and eventually TJ got his man.
We suspected that there was another, smaller alligator around, but have not seen him/her all winter...until the day the kids asked. Then, as if on call, he appeared right in front of us while I was cooking some burgers on the grill.
We managed to get this picture before he got scared and took off!
The General has had to endure some jokes by TLW and friends as he has not been fishing off of our bank since all of the news reports of alligator attacks...guess I will have to wait for "mating season" to be over.
Any good recipes for alligator?
Posted by The General at 01:38 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBackDuck Duck Goose Goose
The General recently took on the challenge of cooking duck. I say challenging because it is not something I normally do. We have a friend who loves duck so much that when he went on a two week cruise he had duck every night...go figure.
Duck really is good...if it is prepared correctly.
Here are the steps I followed:
1. Brine your duck with 1/2 cup of Kosher salt to 1 quart of water. Be sure to dissolve the salt very well...I used the blender to accomplish this. Let the duck brine overnight.
2. Remove from the brine and rinse thoroughly. Forgetting this step with cause your duck to be "over salty."
3. Use a simple rub of Emeril's Essence and some coarsely ground black pepper. Rub all parts of your duck.
4. I was not sure what kind of sauce or glaze to use, and,often, when TG is in doubt about a glaze or a sauce, I go to the
"The BBQ Queens' Big Book of Barbecue" (Karen Adler). These gals really know their sauces...and they are pretty "saucy" too! On p. 241 I found just the right glaze. It calls for 8 ounces of dried apricots chopped or 1/4 cup apricot jam, 1 cup of cognac or brandy (TG used cognac), and 1 1/2 cups water.
- Place the apricots and cognac in a small saucepan and cook over low heat about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the water and simmer over medium heat until it just begins to boil. Turn down the heat and continue to simmer until the mixture is thick...about 10 minutes.
5. Prepare your fire for indirect cooking. TG added some pecan wood chunks to the fire. Before putting your breasts on the grill, you need to score the skin and the trick is to not cut into the meat. Try to make half inch diamonds all the way across the skin. Also you need to trim the skin so that it does not hang over the meat.
6. Cook over indirect heat turning about every 5 minutes until you reach an internal temperature of 170*.
This was definitely a cooking experience well worth repeating. If you really want to get good at cooking duck...or need some inspiration like TG...go to Maple Leaf Farms' website. They even have the Duck University where you can become a duck expert...
Yet Another Way to Present Asparagus
We really have been giving asparagus a good workout lately. But here is another one.
Place the thinnest stalks of asparagus you can find on a perforated pan with another pan underneath after cutting off the bottoms to make nice uniform stalks the make layers of them... (blanch them first). Then apply a generous coating of balsamic dressing to the layers of asparagus...allowing the dressing to seep through the layers and end up in the bottom of the second pan. (Basically you are just trying to apply a nice glistening coat of the dressing to each stalk.)
For a good presentation layer the bottom of a serving tray with thin slices of prosciutto ham, fan out the asparagus, and garnish with cherry tomatoes for a punch of color....
Mmmmm!
Posted by The General at 12:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackJune 02, 2006
Logo Cakes
We have previously mentioned that The General and TLW went back to Atlanta to cater The General's 40th high school reunion. Yesterday TG got a thank you note from Debbie (the coordinator of the reunion). Her note sums up what we believe are the keys for successful hospitality and entertaining. Here is what she wrote:
"Hey Wiley,
You & Janet & your team did an outstanding job with the food for our reunion! We've gotten lots of positive feedback and everyone raves about the food; it was really delicious, a good variety, generous quantity, and wonderful presentation...the topper, of course, being the cake!
Thank you for all of your efforts! I hope your calendar is marked for 2010!
Debbie"
Now here the secret to creating the cake. Sam's Club bakery, and I am sure other bakeries as well, has the technology to duplicate just about any logo or picture you want copied. **Just make sure you are legal with it when you duplicate company names, etc.**
Clients are very often surprised when I show up with a cake that has their company logo on it. For thirty something dollars it is a great way to honor your client!
Alabama BBQ Chicken with White BBQ Sauce
The General subscribes to too many cooking magazines...according to The Little Woman. All are 'looked at' but not many are 'read.' Now she wants me to get rid of some...a hard thing to do! There is one in particular called "Cook's Country" that I especially like.
I especially like Cook's Country because they test and work with the recipes and perfect them before publishing. I am not sure all published recipes go through the scrutiny and the testing that CC puts into their recipes. I have no problem in recommending that you try a subscription to CC!
The latest issue had Kansas City Ribs, Better Burgers, Best Slow Cooker Chile...and most important they talk about our friends from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ in Decatur, AL. The restaurant has been smoking BBQ since 1925. Don McLemore, wife Carolyn, and his son in law Chris Lilly are some of the nicest people you will ever meet on this planet. If you are ever in the Huntsville, AL area, Decatur is just a hop, skip and a jump from there and it would be well worth your time to stop by and sample their "Q."
All BBQ is essentially cooked the same, but it is the sauce that denotes the region. In northern Alabama, they use a white mayonnaise based sauce on their chicken. Cook's Country breaks the recipe down where you can make the same white sauce at home.
Alabama BBQ Chicken
White BBQ Sauce
3/4 C mayonnaise
2 T cider vinegar
2 t sugar
1/2 t prepared horseradish
1/2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 t cayenne pepper
Chicken
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
1/2 t cayenne pepper
2 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) whole chickens, patted dry and split
2 C hickory wood chips
Vegetable oil for grill grate
1. For the sauce: Mix all ingredients in blender until smooth, about 1 minute. Refrigerate sauce in airtight container for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
2. For the chicken: Mix salt, black pepper, and cayenne in small bowl. Rub spice mixture all over chicken.
3. Soak wood chips in bowl of water to cover for 15 minutes. Meanwhile open bottom grill vents completely. Light large chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes (about 90 coals) and burn until charcoal is covered with fine gray ash. Place 13 by 9 inch disposable aluminum roasting pan in center of grill. Pour half of coals into pile on each side of grill, leaving pan in the center. Scatter wood chips over coals and set cooking grate in place. Cover with lid vents positioned over center of grill and opened halfway. Let grill heat for 5 minutes.
4. Dip wad of paper towels in oil and oil grate, holding paper towels with long-handled tongs. Place chicken skin side down on center of grill. Cover with half opened lid vents over chicken.
5. Grill chickens until skin is well browned, 35 to 45 minutes. Flip chickens skin side up and grill, covered, until breast meat registers 165* on instant-read thermometer, 15 to 20 minutes longer.
6. Transfer chickens to cutting board, brush with 2 tablespoons sauce, tent with foil, and let rest 10 minutes. Remove foil and brush chicken with 1 tablespoon sauce. Carve and serve, passing remaining sauce at table.
