Beer Girl Cooks

Cooking & Craft Beer

skillet

Peach Ale & Pineapple Barbecue Chicken Thighs

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Peach Ale & Pineapple Barbecue Chicken Thighs are easy to make starting on the stove top and finishing in the oven for a delicious and simple mealPeach Ale & Pineapple Barbecue Chicken Thighs are easy to make starting on the stove top and finishing in the oven for a delicious and simple meal

I bought a Kayak.

Peach Ale & Pineapple Barbecue Chicken Thighs are easy to make starting on the stove top and finishing in the oven for a delicious and simple meal

Well, two actually.  Chris got one too because we all know that I should not be out and about rowing around a lake without supervision.  Although I did have a life jacket and a whistle.

I have to tell ya that getting in and out of a kayak from a boat dock without falling in the water is a heck of a lot harder than it looks.  Let’s just say it’s a good thing Chris was there and the neighbors got a good laugh.  I’m just really glad they weren’t home to witness my exit strategy because that wasn’t pretty.

Peach Ale & Pineapple Barbecue Chicken Thighs are easy to make starting on the stove top and finishing in the oven for a delicious and simple meal

Once I got going I really had a blast.  There is nothing quite like paddling around a lake while looking at the trees, birds, and pretty houses to quiet the soul.  It was nice to just be.  To work and row, then float around peacefully with the sounds of the water and feeling the perfect breeze.

It was a magical day that I plan to put on repeat.  It’s also a beautiful way to begin healing a broken heart.

Peach Ale & Pineapple Barbecue Chicken Thighs
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Peach Ale & Pineapple Barbeque Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces peach wheat ale
  • 2 cups ketchup
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup pineapple preserves
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 5 boneless chicken thighs

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325
  2. Combine beer, ketchup, brown sugar, pineapple preserves, molasses, apple cider vinegar, honey, cayenne, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder in a pot and cook over medium heat until all ingredients combined, sugars are melted, and the mixture is thickened - about 30 minutes stirring often
  3. Melt butter in a cast iron or oven proof skillet over medium high heat
  4. Add chicken thighs and brown about 1 minute on each side
  5. Cover chicken with sauce and transfer to oven and bake until chicken is cooked all the way through and the internal temperature reaches 165 - about 15 - 20 minutes

 

Jalapeno Pale Ale Skillet Cornbread

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Jalapeno Pale Ale Skillet Cornbread is flavored uniquely with a jalapeno pale ale beer for an adult upgrade to a classic skillet buttermilk cornbread.

 

I confess.

Jalapeno Pale Ale Skillet Cornbread is flavored uniquely with a jalapeno pale ale beer for an adult upgrade to a classic skillet buttermilk cornbread.

I’m not a fan of the jalapeno.  I just do not like spicy or bitter and they taste like both to me. I am, however, a fan of this Jalapeno Pale Ale from Birdsong Brewing.  And, really – who doesn’t love some skillet cornbread?

Jalapeno Pale Ale Skillet Cornbread is flavored uniquely with a jalapeno pale ale beer for an adult upgrade to a classic skillet buttermilk cornbread.

Cornbread is definitely not something we have on the regular around here, but when we do it’s a welcome favorite splurge. I make it as a side to everything from a Low Country Boil (similar to a Clam Bake if you’re from the northeast) to a big ole pot of pinto beans simmered all day with some leftover ribs or a big slab of bacon.

Jalapeno Pale Ale Skillet Cornbread is flavored uniquely with a jalapeno pale ale beer for an adult upgrade to a classic skillet buttermilk cornbread.

You can understand why this is not an everyday regular dish around here or we’d be living in expando-pants.

P.S. I grew those jalapenos in my garden – yay me!

Jalapeno Pale Ale Skillet Cornbread
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Jalapeno Pale Ale Skillet Cornbread

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon baking soda
  • 3 tablespoons shortening
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1 cup beer

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425
  2. Whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and baking soda
  3. In a separate bowl or measuring cup, mix together buttermilk, egg, and honey
  4. Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients
  5. Stir in the beer
  6. Add shortening to a cast iron skillet and transfer skillet to hot oven for 1 -2 minutes
  7. Remove skillet from oven - shortening should be melted
  8. Add batter to skillet - it will sizzle
  9. Return the skillet with the batter to the oven and bake 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown - careful not to burn the bottom

NOTES:

  1. I used a Jalapeno Pale Ale from Birdsong Brewing here in Charlotte.  The flavor of the pepper is in there, but it’s mild and the beer is not spicy.  I haven’t tried this recipe with any of the other (hot) pepper beers I’ve seen, but if you use one that’s spicy, it’s likely to change the flavor profile of the cornbread.
  2. If you want a bit more jalapeno, spice, or texture in the cornbread, you can dice a couple of fresh jalapeno (serrano, habanero, ghost chili) peppers and mix into the batter before pouring it into the skillet.
  3. I don’t normally promote the use of shortening (Crisco, etc.), but I personally think it’s absolutely necessary here to get those crispy edges.

Jalapeno Pale Ale Skillet Cornbread

Skillet Roasted Spatchcock Chicken with Smoked Amber Ale BBQ Sauce

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Skillet Roasted Spatchcock Chicken with Smoked Amber Ale BBQ Sauce is an easy way to roast a chicken with a homemade craft beer smoked amber ale bbq sauce.

 

There’s something about snow storm that makes me want to BBQ some chicken.

Skillet Roasted Spatchcock Chicken with Smoked Amber Ale BBQ Sauce is an easy way to roast a chicken with a homemade craft beer smoked amber ale bbq sauce.

There is absolutely nothing about a snow storm that sends me running to the grocery to clear the shelves of bread and milk.  I really don’t get it.  I realize that in the south the mere threat of one single snow flake will create the kind of panic that the rest of the world laughs at, but it happens so rarely that we just aren’t equipped to deal with it.  That part makes sense to me.  What doesn’t make sense is the sudden need to stock up with bread and milk.  What are you going to do with it?

Skillet Roasted Spatchcock Chicken with Smoked Amber Ale BBQ Sauce is an easy way to roast a chicken with a homemade craft beer smoked amber ale bbq sauce.

Now, I don’t deny that I join the masses at the grocery just before the snow comes, but you won’t find me in the bread or milk aisles.  You will absolutely find me in the beer aisle because even though we usually have our kegerator and beer fridge stocked up, the mere possibility that we could be snowed in without an abundance of beer will send me to a grocery to pick up some local craft beer and a chicken.  I might also swing by a brewery for a growler.

Skillet Roasted Spatchcock Chicken with Smoked Amber Ale BBQ Sauce is an easy way to roast a chicken with a homemade craft beer smoked amber ale bbq sauce.

Even though I love it when it snows here, there’s something about bbq chicken that feels like a glimmer of summer and a reminder of cookouts that warms up the winter weather for me.  So next time it snows, fix a skillet roasted spatchcock chicken with smoked amber ale bbq sauce.  You won’t even have to go outside and bust out the grill.  You can reminisce about summer and stay warm in front of the fireplace while watching the snow fall out the windows.

Skillet Roasted Spatchcock Chicken with Smoked Amber Ale BBQ Sauce
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Skillet Roasted Spatchcock Chicken with Smoked Amber Ale BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

For the Smoked Amber Ale BBQ Sauce

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 1/2 cups beer (I used Triple C's Smoked Amber
  • 28 ounce can tomato sauce
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 1/4 cups brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 2 -3 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 3 - 4 teaspoons onion powder
  • dash Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 10 - 12 pound chicken

Instructions

  1. Heat butter and olive oil over medium-high in a large cast iron skillet or other heavy bottom pan
  2. Add onion and cook until softened and fragrant
  3. Add garlic and cook another minute or so
  4. Add beer
  5. bring to a boil, reduce heat and add tomato sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar, Dijon, apple cider vinegar, molasses, garlic powder, onion powder, Worcestershire, and smoked paprika
  6. Bring to a simmer and cook about 1 hour or until thickness desired
  7. Preheat oven to 450
  8. Arrange chicken in a cast iron skillet back side up
  9. Brush with some Smoked Amber BBQ Sauce
  10. Transfer to oven and cook 4- 50 minutes, brush with more bbq sauce every 5 minutes or so, when temperature reaches 160 degrees remove from oven
  11. Rest 10 minutes

NOTES:

  1. BBQ Sauce will thicken when cooled
  2. Adjust with seasonings to achieve desired taste
  3. For really great instructions on how to spatchcock a bird go check out my friend Chey’s post over here.  You can also ask your butcher to do it for you.  I make Chris do it for me. 🙂