The Impatient Chef Can't Sit Still at Uncle Earl's BBQ Bistro

Uncle Earl's Cart

There’s a food cart pod just off of SE 82nd Ave in Portland, Oregon. A side street called SE Lafayette heads off at a right angle just before SE Powell Blvd heading north. The Impatient Chef happened to see it on my way home from Pensey’s Spices and a restaurant supply store where he bought a cast iron tortilla press. Tacos may ensue. The cart pod, called Collective Oregon Eateries, seemed inviting enough, so The Impatient Chef parked, and got out of the car. That’s when the sweet smell of smoked BBQ hit him. That smell is hard to resist, so The Impatient Chef made a bee line to the source, which is Uncle Earl’s BBQ Bistro. 

Uncle Earl gave me a wave when The Impatient Chef took a picture (above) of his cart to send it the Spousal Unit to let her know that there was BBQ afoot. She was agreeable, so The Impatient Chef ordered. Brisket was the obvious starting place. Brisket is key to knowing whether a BBQ joint knows its business. Rounding out the meal were pulled pork, and a half a chicken. Our sides were mac and cheese, and corn bread muffins. 

The Menu

  After a ten minute wait, The Impatient Chef had a bag of BBQ to take home. 

Which The Impatient Chef did. 

This is where it gets complicated. Fear not. The outcome was satisfying.

The Impatient Chef doesn’t answer phone calls while driving, yet Uncle Earl tried to call to say that he had forgotten the pulled pork. The voicemail was waiting once ensconced in the garage.  Arrangements were made arrangements to pick it up later.

So, missing the pulled pork, we dove in.    

The Impatient Chef has taken better pictures than this

The Brisket.

Cut-it-with-a-fork tender, juicy, and smokey, it really was the star of the show. There is no doubt that Uncle Earl knows brisket inside and out. There really is not much more to say about it. Gather your best superlatives in a basket and fling them at it. See what sticks.

The Chicken.

Chicken is a demanding bird. Prone to dryness, and yet hard to cook all the way through without becoming dry, it’s easy to cluck it up. This chicken was midrange moist, but not dry. The rub was nicely spiced with a satisfying amount of smoke, and it went well with the BBQ sauce provided.

Mac and Cheese.

Much better than The Impatient Chef has gotten from other BBQ places. It is not an afterthought. It even has a little smoke to it. It is not the gloppy style. The macaroni had a good coating, enough to hold everything together, but not too much. Some types of mac an cheese demand a lot of sauce, but The Impatient Chef thinks that Uncle Earl’s would suffer from too much. It has a fairly intense flavor. Too much sauce could overpower the noodles. 

Corn Bread Muffins

Corn bread tends to be dry, and this was no exception. It was, however, moister than most, and The Impatient Chef could eat it without butter or honey. In the South, there is a distinction between corn bread and what is derisively called “Johnny Cake”, which is dry and requires copious amounts of butter to make it palatable. This was not Johnny Cake. Lighter in color than many an inedible corn bread muffin that The Impatient Chef has had in the past (Yes, The Impatient Chef is talking to you, Black Bear Diner), it had a fresh, corny (not corn-mealy) flavor, with what looks like a small amount of diced red peppers inside. 

Pulled Pork.

After finishing the meal, we drove back out to the cart to pick up the pulled pork. The Impatient Chef knows that mistakes happen, but Uncle Earl wasn’t giving himself any slack. He apologized a number of times, and threw in some ribs to sweeten the deal. Like the brisket, the pulled pork was a masterwork of smoked meats. Tender and juicy with all the appropriate superlatives flung at it, it shines brightly between the teeth. 

Ribs

The bonus ribs were likewise excellent. Not wanting to be too repetitious, The Impatient Chef will leave it at that. 

If you are in the area, follow your nose from 82nd and Lafayette Street, and settle in for some excellent BBQ. Try not to notice the self-inflicted boot print on Uncle Earl’s back side. He won’t be forgetting your pulled pork.

Thanks for reading! 

The Impatient Chef

The Impatient Chef Can't Sit Still at Creekside BBQ in Vancouver, Washington

The Impatient Chef Can't Sit Still at Creekside BBQ in Vancouver, Washington

Disclaimer: “Can’t Sit Still” is a series of reviews based on a single visit to a restaurant while traveling.  Your results may vary.  

Because The Impatient Chef Can't Sit Still, he stopped in at Creekside BBQ in Vancouver, Washington for the first time today with a hankering for anything smoked and savory. Upon arrival, the first thing of note is the unassuming strip mall vibe, which is not necessarily a bad thing.  Lots of good meals can be had in such places.  

Creekside BBQ Counter

Exiting the car, The Impatient Chef immediately caught the wiff of wood smoke.  There is really no smell like it when the stomach is growling, assuming that one is not a vegetarian (to be perfectly frank, The Impatient Chf was a vegetarian in the 80's and 90's, but sill thought that the smell of smoke from BBQ pits was intoxicating). 

Ordering is perpetrated at the counter.  The staff was friendly and helpful, all one of him.  Hunger demanded the Tri-Mountain Plate, which has three meats and two sides.  The meats:  brisket, pulled pork and chicken.  The sides:  mac and cheese, and a horseradish coleslaw.  Add in some sweet tea, and things were looking up.  

How Sweet It Is

At the table was a basket of four different sauces. Things were looking even better.  Excitment crackled like static electricity in the air.  

The Sauces

The meal arrived shortly. The portions were good, and presented well. 

The Meal (Already Split Between Two People)

The brisket was the star of the show. It was tender, juicy, and The Impatient Chef could cut it with a fork.  

The chicken and pork, however, didn't quite live up to the brisket's example.

The chicken was a little dry. It had a decently smoky taste, but needed something to counteract the dryness.

The pulled pork was also a little dry.   It was missing the smoky, caramelized flavor that good pulled porks have, and The Impatient Chef has had some amazing pulled porks over the eons, so he knows the difference.  It also needed a good sauce to give it a little zing.

Which brings us to the sauces. The sauces were disappointing.  The flavors did not seem complimentary to the meats. They called attention to themselves instead of playing nice. The sauces were as follows: 

• Texas Red. Too sweet. Bright but overpowering flavor.
• Kansas City Sweet - opposite problem. Timidity flavored, but still odd on the palate. 
• North Carolina Vinegar was the best of the lot. It was not too vinegary, and had some interesting flavors to back it up. It stole the show on the brisket. That said, it clashed with the other meats. 
• South Carolina Mustard - not bad on the pulled pork. Better when mixed with the vinegar sauce.  It clashed mightily with the chicken and brisket.  They drew swords at each other and growled, metaphorcally, of course. Thankfully, nobody was run through.

The sides: Horseradish coleslaw - fresh and crisp. Great flavor. Mac and cheese - a Velveeta-like flavor with sad bread crumbs (possibly panko) on top.

Cornbread muffin - acceptable. Unusual, but good texture.

Overall, it was average bbq. The Impatient Chef was hoping it would be one of those diamond in the rough places that put out wow food from unlikely digs. It was not to be this time.  

All these things said, It was not a bad meal, merely average, so you wouldn't be wrong going there if you crave BBQ. Just don't expect to have your socks knocked off.

Thanks for reading!

The Impatient Chef.  

The Quay Gang Cookbook Recipe: Buffalo Hot Wings

Because everyone has to have a hot wing recipe.  

Equipment: 

Deep frier or cast iron dutch oven.

Instant Read thermometer.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds chicken wings
• 4 ounces unsalted butter
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 4 tbsp cornstarch
• Bleu cheese dressing
• Carrots and celery.  

Directions:

1. Preheat the frier or dutch oven to 360ºF.
2. Pat the chicken wings dry with a paper towel.
3. In a large bowl, add the cornstarch, and 1 tsp of salt.  Toss the wings in the bowl until uniformly coated.
   
   
   
4. Start the first batch of wings in the frier. The oil is hot, so do it carefully. If you are using a dutch oven, be sure to use a thermometer, and make sure that the temperature gets back to  360º.  

   

   
   
5. In a small sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter.  Once melted, add the garlic.  Sauté for about a minute, stirring constantly.  Add in the hot sauce, and remove from heat.  Whisk until uniform in color.  Add it to a large bowl with the remaining tsp of salt.
   
   
     
6. Remove the wings from the frier when they reach 165ºF internally.  Let the oil drip off, and then add the wings immediately to the sauce.  
   
   
   
7. Repeat with the second batch.  
8. When all of the wings are in the bowl with the sauce, toss them until coated.  
9. Serve with Carrots, celery and bleu cheese dressing. 
   

This is my first post with the new name.  I really liked writing as the Impatient Chef.  It was fun, but I wanted to begin to move in a more serious direction.  The new name "The Quay Gang Cookbook", is the name of the cookbook I have been writing informally for a number of years.  It started with recipes that I  collected over 40 years of cooking, and I have been slowly making them my own, and adding a few new inventions along the way.  Who knows, maybe I will eventually be able to publish it.  I need to get my food photography studio set up first.  That way I can get better pictures.  

Thanks for looking!

--Gary L. Quay

The Impatient Chef Recipe: Impatient Hot and Sour Soup

Hot and Sour Soup Amid Seasonal Squash

The Impatient Chef has dabbled in Asian cuisine over the past few decades, most recently in the milieu of soups.  A few years ago, Chef David Chang mentioned on a Netflix show about him that he prefers asian-style soups for breakfast.  Thus began a dashi-soaked foray into healthier options for the morning meal.  Through this exploration, The Impatient Chef learned to muster Big Taste from scratch, and still make it to work on time.

Soups have an enormous advantage over most any other type of meal when it comes to flavor vs. fat.  Most delicious dishes, at least in western cuisine, drip with the lipidinous, yet luscious substance.  Soup broths can pull off the same trick with very little of it.  Which leads us to the soup at hand.

The Impatient Chef has been largely disappointed with restaurant Hot and Soup soup in recent years, with one exception.  There was a restaurant in Southeast Portland, Oregon called Happy Garden.  It is sadly gone, now, and displaced by a marijuana dispensary, but the Hot and Sour soup there was mushroomy sublime, bathed in hazy umami, and awash in a sea of soy-licious aroma.  Could it possibly be replicated?  

Sure, the internet has recipes.  The Impatient Chef has tried a few of these, begging the question, "Why do we need dried day lillies?"  I mean, really, why?  Being extremely impatient, the imperative was to interpolate the available flavors, and isolate the key ingredients that would invigorate the taste buds.  Part of the process was leaving out hard-to-find ingredients.  

Error and trial ensued, but a victor emerged.  It serves 4.  Elapse time: 45 minutes.  

Ingredients: 

• 8 oz pork shoulder, cut into strips. 
• 3 scallions, sliced, with the greenest parts reserved for garnish 
• 3 cloves garlic 
• 4 heaping tsp chicken Better than Bouillon 
• 1 heaping tsp vegetable Better than Bouillon 
• 2 cups water 
• 8 oz. firm Silken tofu, cut into strips 
• 6 oz. crimini mushroom, cut thickly 
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce 
• 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 egg, beaten 
• 1 teaspoon dried pepper flakes 
• 5 dried Tien Tsan peppers 
• 3 tablespoons corn starch + 1/4 cup water 
• 1 extra heaping tbsp of corn starch for the pork 
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar 
• Sesame oil or grapeseed oil

Directions:

1. Toss the pork strips in the heaping tbsp of corn starch, plus 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. set aside. 
2. Prep the scallions, mushrooms, garlic and tofu. 
3. In an iron skillet, heat up about 1 tbsp of oil (I used bacon fat once, and OMG!) on medium high heat, and add the pork. Separate the pieces so that they fry evenly. Toss them occasionally, allowing them to brown, but not turn black. Do not overcook. When they are done place them into a bowl. 
4. Add half of the vinegar to the pan, and deglaze. Pour the liquid through a fine strainer into the bowl containing the pork. 
5. Lower heat to medium. 
6. Carefully wipe out the iron skillet with a paper towel. 
7. Start the water heating in a separate sauce pan. 
8. Add 2 tbsp oil to the iron skillet, and add the scallions. Sauté them for about 2 minutes, and add the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are tender, adding more oil if the pan dries up. These mushrooms will soak up the oil. Add the garlic, and sauté for a minute, stirring constantly.
9. Add the vegetable mixture to the sauce pan. With the remaining vinegar, deglaze the iron skillet again. Add deglazing liquid to the sauce pan. Add the tofu, and the pork. 
10. Combine the corn starch, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and balsamic vinegar in a small dish. Stir well. Set aside. 
11. Beat the egg with a fork in a small bowl. 
12. Add the chicken and vegetable bouillon (I prefer Better Than Bouillon), white pepper, dried peppers, and pepper flakes, to the sauce pan, stir, and bring to a boil.  Cook for 4 minutes. 
13. Add the corn starch and soy sauce mixture. Stir continuously to thicken the soup. Taste. Add more bouillon, or soy sauce as necessary, but don’t let it sit without stirring form more than a few seconds. Remove from the heat.  Add the retained scallion greens.
14. Add the beaten eggs into the soup, wait a few seconds, and stir very briefly with a fork.
15. Serve. 

Notes:

This soup is not “traditional”, but it is a umami bomb. Use some hot chili oil if you want more heat, but this has a decent spice without it.

I prefer Better Than Bouillon over other brands.  I think that this soup would suffer if you use other brands.  Just be careful not to use too much.  Also, use less salt, as they contain a fair amount of it.  

The Impatient Chef Recipe - Paella!

Summer is here and the time is right for...

Paella!

The way to know when summer has arrived in my household is when the Paella pan comes out of hiding.

Paella comes from Spain, and has been taking hold in the US for the last decade, or so.  It seriously tries The Impatient Chef's patience, but the finished product is worth it.  This recipe is an amalgamation of a few different versions with some additions (shrimp and chorizo) of my own that turned out to not actually be original.  Oh well.  For me, they are indispensable.  

Ingredients:

• 1 pound tomatoes, or a 16 oz can diced tomatoes 
• 9 cups chicken broth 
• 3 cups Bomba, Paella or Arborio rice.  Any of these would work.  
• 20 threads saffron 
• 2 sprigs rosemary.  Remove the leaves from the stems
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on, chicken thighs
• 1 pound ground pork chorizo sausage (optional, but why would you not use it?) 
• 1 pound medium to large shrimp (optional, but… well… it’s shrimp!) 
• 1/2 pound fresh green beans, ends cut off, and cut into 1" pieces
• 2 cups chopped red bell pepper 
• 7 cloves garlic, minced 

Equipment: Chimney starter, paper, and about 4 pounds natural lump charcoal, 15-inch carbon steel paella pan, kettle grill.  

Directions:

1. Start the grill:  Crumble some paper (I use Visa receipts because they can't be recycled), and put it into the bottom of a charcoal chimney starter.  Fill the chimney with half of the charcoal and light the paper.  
2. When the charcoal is looking ashy, pour it onto the bottom grate of the grill and spread it out.  Add the remaining charcoal, and spread it evenly.  Add the cooking grate to the grill, but don't put the Paella pan onto it yet.  
3. You need to give the coals a little time to settle down before cooking, so its important to start the coals first.  You can start the prep while they are in the chimney, but make sure you give them some time.  My most recent Paella suffered from forgetting to do this.  I had the Fires of Hell under the pan when I started, and it it was difficult to get everything done without burning.  I lost about a third of the batch to over-charring.  There is supposed to be a layer of "socarrat", or lightly-charred rice, on the bottom of the pan.  There is not supposed to be a layer of creosote.  
4. Start your prep:  If you use fresh tomatoes, just dice them.  I have always done well with using canned, diced tomatoes. You can also use ground tomatoes as well.  Do all of the chopping and cutting mentioned in the ingredients list.  
   
   
   
5. Season the chicken with 2 teaspoons of salt.
6. Warm the chicken broth in a saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 200 degrees F.  Put on the lid, and turn the burner to low, or just remove it from the stove.  
7. In a mixing bowl, add the rice, saffron, rosemary, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and paprika.  mix it with your hands for a few seconds.  
8. Put your Paella pan onto the grill.  Let it heat for a few seconds.  
9. Add the olive oil to the pan (remember, no Fires of Hell). 
10. If you are using chorizo and shrimp, cook this first for 4 minutes.  If the shrimp is raw, add it to the chorizo after 3 minutes.  Remove both to a bowl for later, leaving the spicy oils in the pan.  If the shrimp is precooked, add it when you add back the chorizo in a few steps.  
11. place the chicken into the pan, and fry until golden brown on both sides.  It should take about 5 to 6 minutes per side.  
    
    
    
12. Remove the chicken from the pan, and set aside.  Add the green beans, and red bell pepper to the center of the pan and cook until they begin to soften and darken in color, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and stir for an additional minute.  
13. Add the tomatoes, and cook until most of the liquid is gone.  This is usually just a few minutes.   
14. Add the rice mixture to the center of the pan and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute.  
15. Add back the cooked shrimp and chorizo at this point, and spread the rice mixture evenly throughout the pan.  
16. Place the chicken pieces on top of the rice, and press down lightly to nestle them into the rice.  They should not touch the bottom, though.  
17. Add 4 cups of the warm chicken broth, and make sure that the rice mixture is still evenly distributed.  The rice should be completely submerged in the liquid.  You can press it under the liquid with a spatula or long spoon if necessary.  Do not stir the paella from here on.  To get socarrat, you have to leave it undisturbed.
18. After about 8 to 9 minutes, the liquid should be mostly absorbed.  Add 4 more cups of broth.  Cook for 8 to 9 more minutes without stirring. The rice should be al dente at this point.  Distribute the remaining cup of broth.  Add a little to spots where the rice is poking through the liquid. 
19. After a few more minutes, you should hear a light sizzling from the bottom of the pan.  If you don't hear it, don't worry.  The rice shouldn't look soupy, but it also should not be totally dry.  It should look like the picture below.  
20. Remove the pan from the grill, and cover it with a couple of kitchen towels.  Leave it rest for about 15 minutes.  Any remaining liquid should be absorbed by the rice.  

It may take a few attempts to get it right, but it is rewarding, and will feed an army, or give you a week of leftovers.  

Enjoy!

The Impatient Chef.  

The Impatient Chef Recipe: Chicken Schnitzel with Spaetzle and Mushroom Gravy

 

There is something about a mushroom gravy that just makes everything bad in the world go away for a short time.  The Impatient Chef has some German ancestry, and spent a couple of years there in the 1980's, and so retains some affinity for food that goes well with beer. 

There is really no better example of German cooking than the schnitzel, whether it be chicken or jager, and a side of spaetzle.  Sure, if you lived in Idar Oberstein, you would think that Speisbraten was the pinnacle of German cooking.  If you lived in Hamburg, or Frankfurt, you probably wouldn't think the hamburgers or frankfurters were the best, but you may like sauerbraten.  If you lived in Berlin, you may like ein Berliner.  John F. Kennedy called himself ein Berliner, not knowing that putting "ein" in front of "Berliner" makes him not a resident of Berlin, but rather, a jelly donut.  JFK called himself a jelly donut when he said "Ich bin ein Berliner" all those years ago.  Berliners loved him for that.  

The Impatient Chef makes a couple of impatient choices for ingredients that don't affect deliciousness.  These are store-bought spaetzle, and mushroom bouillon.  

Special tools:

• A kitchen mallet.
• A deep fryer, or a large dutch oven for frying.  
• 3 pie plates for breading.

Ingredients: 

• 2 half chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, and beaten flat with a kitchen mallet
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup flour, and 6 tbsp flour for roux
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp mushroom bouillon (Better Than Bouillon works best)
• 5 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp grapeseed oil (or another neutral oil)
• 4 large crimini mushrooms
• 1/2 tsp MSG (yes, The Impatient Chef dares to use this ingredient)
• 2 cups dry spaetzle.  

Directions:

In a stock pot, heat water for boiling spaetzel.  Prepare and turn on the fryer, or put peanut oil into a dutch oven, and heat to 360 degrees F.  If you are using a dutch oven, take extra care not to fill it too far.  These breasts will make the oil level rise a surprising amount.  

While the water and oil are heating, divide the half chicken breasts again in half, and lay on some butcher paper, or wax paper.  Lay some plastic wrap over it, and pound the chicken breasts with a kitchen mallet.  Use the tenderizing end of the mallet.  Make them about 1/4" thick.  They can be thicker, but they will get even thicker in the fryer.  You want them to be fairly thin.  

Place 3 pie plates side by side on a table.  In the one on the left, put 1/3 cup four.  In the center one, beat the egg, and in the right one, put the bread crumbs, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Coat the breasts in flour, egg, and then the bread crumbs.  Lay them out on a tray with a wire rack on it.  

When the water boils, add the spaetzel, and stir to keep them from sticking.  Stir occasionally while doing the rest of the recipe.  

Slice the mushrooms.  Melt 2 tbsp butter in a sauce pan, add the grapeseed oil, and sauté the mushrooms  with a 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper until tender and fragrant.  Add 1 1/2 cups water, MSG, the bouillon.  Bring to a boil on medium heat while you make the roux.

To make the roux, melt 3 tbsp butter on medium low heat, and add 6 tbsp cup flour.  Stir often for 5 minutes, then add 1/4 cup water.  Stir until it is absorbed, and then add the last 1/4 cup.  Stir until it is absorbed.  Add roux to the mushroom broth, lower heat, and bring slowly to a boil.  

While the gravy is heating, add chicken to the fryer.  Make sure it is up to temperature first.  If you have timed it right, everything should be done around the same time.  Fry the chicken until golden brown, with an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.  Remove from oil.  

Drain the spaetzel when it is soft.  Serve with spaetzel on the side.  Ladle mushroom gravy over both.  Serves 4.  

The Impatient Chef Forgot to take Pictures of his Nashville Hot Chicken Recipe

Image curtesy of clipartpix.com

So, this piece of clip art will have to do.  

Where to begin?  

Heat.  The Impatient Chef likes spicy foods.

Where else?

Taste.  Every bit as important as heat.  

I have tried Nashville Hot Chicken, and attempted to make some from a recipe once.  I did it by the books, which is to say that I made the chicken with some spices in the breading, and made a spice mixture into which I ladled some of the friar oil, and mixed it up before slathering the crispy chicken with it.  

The result?

A resounding "Meh".

I was missing something.  But, what was it?  

Well, living in Nashville, of course.  That is something certainly missing.  I don't know what real, authentic, bona-fried Nashville Hot Chicken tastes like.  After some serious sourpussing over the sheer mileage between here and there, The Impatient Chef gradually hatched a plan.  

The Plan.

A bit of research revealed that really crispy fried chicken gets breaded in corn starch.  The breading had been a little soggy in the sauce for my first batch, so why not?  However, I wasn't too certain about using entirely corn starch, so I though "What about corn flour?"  

Now for the spice.  

The Impatient Chef adores buffalo wings.

Of course!  Use butter instead of the friar oil.  While I was at it, I decided to forgo the spice mixture, and instead use hot sauce.  I opted for Tapatio.  

The Recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces of chicken.  I used dark meat.  
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1/2 cup corn flour 
• 8 tablespoons Creole seasoning (I like Tony Chachere's)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup and 1 tbsp. hot sauce (I used Tapatio)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup AP flour

Equipment:

• A deep fryer, or dutch oven with just enough oil to cover the chicken.  
• 3 pie plates, or shallow dishes for the breading
• Fat skimmer.  
• Fast read thermometer.
• Sheet tray with a cooling grid. 
• Small sauté pan
• Wire whisk
• Shallow bowl
• Pastry brush. 

Directions:

1. Rinse the chicken and pat dry.  
2. Arrange the pie plates in a row.  To the first one, add the flour.  In the second one, crack the egg, add one tbsp of the hot sauce, and beat until uniform in color (but don't get carried away).  Into the third one, add the corn flour, the corn starch, and 4 tablespoons of the Creole seasoning.  
3. Sprinkle 4 of the tablespoons of the creole seasoning on all sides of the chicken.  Roll it in the flour until coated, then the egg mixture, and then the corn starch mixture.  Place the chicken onto the sheet tray with the cooling grid.  Do not discard the surplus corn starch mixture.  
4. Turn on the fryer, or start heating the dutch oven.  The temperature should be 375 degrees.  
5. While the oil is heating, you will notice that the chicken is turning slightly red.  This is the red from the hot sauce in the egg mixture showing through the breading.  Sprinkle a little more breading on all sides of each piece, and pat it down.  You are trying to cover most of the red.  Wait a few minutes and do it again.  I did three rounds of this.  Now, if you are making french fries with this meal, you can heat the oil first, and add the extra breading to the chicken while those are frying.  Otherwise, heating the oil at the start of the recipe means that you will have to keep it heated for 10 to 15 extra minutes while adding the extra breading.  The Impatient Chef loves good food, but hates Global Warming, so using only the BTU's that are necessary is a plus.  
6. Once the oil is heated, carefully add the chicken.  Be careful to not get splattered.  After a minute or so, nudge them with the fat skimmer to make sure that they aren't sticking to the bottom.  
7. After about 5 minutes, melt the butter in the small sauté pan until it barely starts bubbling.  Add the remaining 1/4 cup of hot sauce.    Whisk it until uniform.  Remove from heat.  
8. When the chicken has reached 165 degrees, remove it from the oil and into a shallow bowl.  Pour the hot sauce and butter mixture over it.  Use the pastry brush to spread it over as much of the chicken as possible on both sides.   There should be very little of it, if any, left in the bowl.
9. Serve with your choice of sides and have a box of facial tissue handy.  

Note to spice lovers.  You may experiment with hotter sauces, but be kind to your less adventurous guests or spouses.  This recipe has a nice flavor, and a nice heat.  Why make tomorrow morning any harder than it has to be?  

Disclaimer:

This is not authentic Nashville Hot Chicken.  When I moved to the hot sauce instead of the spice mixture, the recipe became more Buffalo than Nashville.  My wife really liked it, so I will call it a success.  

--The Impatient Chef.

The Impatient Chef Recipe: Beer Butt Chicken

Well, folks.  There comes that time in a chef's life that all pretensions must be thrown aside, and we have to try a recipe just because it's funny.  However, a question that these discerning home chefs have asked for decades is thus:  Does inserting a beer can into the nether regions of a chicken do anything for the flavor?

The answer:  In a word, no.  

But, what if there was a way to make it work?  Fortunately, there is.  

The traditional way to cook this somewhat humiliated bird in the beer can fashion is to empty out half of the beer, and fill the can the rest of the way with italian dressing.  After it finished bubbling out of the can, it is inserted into the chicken, and baked standing up. 

I propose three changes to this recipe:

1. Make homemade Italian dressing.  You can tailor it to the needs of your bird.  Hint: extra salt and garlic.
2. Add dressing to the half can of beer you poured out.  Loosen the skin of the chicken, and pour it through, letting the excess drip into the pan.
3. Cover your bird with foil to keep the flavor in.  Baste it on occasion with the liquid.
4. I lied.  There are four changes.  Get a good beer.  A hoppy IPA would be profoundly better than a mass-marketed lager. 

Tools:  

• Blender 
• Aluminium foil 
• Baking twine 
• A high-sided roasting pan, or iron skilley
• An oven with some head room 
• A two-cup measuring cup 
• A sense of humor

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 cup vegetable oil (grapeseed or canola)
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tbsp basil
• 1 tbsp tarragon
• 1 tsp marjoram
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 tsp mustard (as an emulsifant) 
• 7 cloves garlic
• 1 16 oz can of beer (IPA, or other flavorful beer)
• 1 chicken (preferably deceased and plucked)

Directions:

The day before you want to bake the bird, make the dressing.  
Add all of the ingredients except for the oil, beer, and bird to a blender, and blend until the garlic is minced.  With the blender still on medium speed, open the lid, and slowly pour the oil into it to create an emulsion.  Refrigerate overnight to let the flavors mellow and blend.  

On baking day, 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  
2. Pour half of the beer into a 2 cup measuring cup (or any container with a pouring spout) with room to add half of the dressing, and, of course, add half of the dressing.  You may have to stir it first it it has separated.  Then stir the beer / dressing mixture briefly.
3. Add the other half of the dressing to the remaining beer in the can.
4. Loosen the skin on the chicken in as many places as you can by pulling in back, and sliding your hand in, and working it until there is a cavity between the flesh and skin that will hold liquid (or at least the solids).  
5. Over the roasting pan, insert the beer can containing half of the beer/dressing mixture up the chicken’s cavity.  Feel momentarily embarrassed for the poor little guy.  Place it standing up in the baking tray  or iron skillet.  
6. Over your roasting pan, pour the dressing/beer mixture in the measuring cup through the chicken skin in as many places as possible.  It’s okay if a lot of the liquid ends up in the tray.  
7. Use the baking twine to force the poor little guy to stand up in the pan or skillet.  Cover loosely with aluminum foil.  I used four toothpicks (blunted on one end) around the top to hold the foil away from the bird.  I stuck them in at 45degree angles, and laid the foil over top, making sure that there was no place for the steam to escape.  Seal the foil tightly around the pan as well.  How tight you can make the seal with the foil is the key to this recipe.  
   
   
   
   
8. Bake until the internal temperature is about 150 degrees.  Remove from the oven.  Remove the foil, and increase the temperature to 450 degrees.  Place back in the oven and bake until the internal temperature is 165 degrees.  This should be enough to make the skin nice and crispy.  
9. Remove the poor little bugger from the oven, and remove the beer can.  Carve and enjoy. 
   
   
   
   

Unlike Beer Butt Chickens I've had in the past, this one was moist, and flavorful.  That hoppy aroma came through, and the herbs have it a pleasant flavor.  This is definitely an improvement on the concept.  It's not just for show.  

Enjoy!

--The Impatient Chef