Beer Can Chicken

Or as Leo now calls it, Beer up the Bum Chicken - This is an easy way of cooking a Chicken and keeping it moist at the same time. No worries about the breast browning and the bottom sitting in the cooking juices either, this way of cooking ensure that the Chicken is cooked evenly all over. I read somewhere once, that to get a perfectly cooked chicken, you just cook it on full whack for an hour regardless of how big it is...I based the cooking time for this recipe around that principle but feel free to stick to whatever the recommended timings are for your size Chicken.

You need:

1 Chicken
1 Large Can Beer - any brand
4 Tablespoons of Cajun Seasoning - you could use whatever you have around.
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Pre-heat oven to 200c. Pour the Oil over the Chicken and rub it all over to coat. Take 3/4 of the Seasoning/Rub and rub it into the Chicken, making sure you coat the breast and legs well.

Drink half the can of beer. Pour the remaining Seasoning/Rub into the beer can. Stick the beer can up the Chickens bum, so it "sits" upright on the can. Make sure the drinking end of the can is inside the chicken :-)

Now carefully place the Chicken into a roasting dish and make sure it's stable and won't fall over. Place in the oven and cook for an hour OR for the recommended time depending on the size of your Chicken - mine was a medium sized bird and an hour was fine.

Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before removing the can and carving. Serve with all the usual chickenny things.

Feeds 4

Cajun Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce

Bread Pudding....conjures up images of saggy elbowed old grannies mushing up soggy bread in a big bowl, getting chunks of it stuck under their massive great diamond rings....(if it didn't before, it will now!). This recipe is saggy elbow free. Apart from cutting the bread, you don't need to touch it at all. The sauce is very strong and very tasty. If you don't like Bourbon, you can try it with Malt Whisky instead.

You need:

Pudding

150g French Bread (stale if possible) broken into bite sized chunks
1 beaten Egg
150ml Double Cream
150ml Milk
45g melted Butter
125g Sugar
60g Seedless Raisins
30g Dessicated Coconut
1/4 teaspoon ground Cinnamon

Sauce

60g Butter
90g Icing Sugar
1 small Egg Yolk
50ml Bourbon (any cheap one will do if you don't have some decent stuff lying around)

For the Pudding - Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. It needs to be very moist, but not too gloopy. Pre-heat the oven to 180/350/Gas 4






Pour the mixture into a baking dish (as shown) and bake in the middle of a pre-heated oven for 45mins, or until it is a nice dark golden color.







For the Sauce - mix the Butter and Icing Sugar together in a small saucepan over a low heat until all the butter is absorbed. Now remove it from the heat and beat in the Egg Yolk. Then gradually beat in the Bourbon.


Serve the sauce warm, poured over the pudding. The sauce will thicken slightly as it cools.

New Orleans Rice & Shrimp

This is another easy meal that you can make with Crayfish Tails instead of Prawns - if you can find them.....

You need:

2oz Butter
3 Celery Sticks (finely chopped)
1 small Green Pepper (finely diced)
1 medium Onion (finely chopped)
1/4 pint of water
500g or 1lb raw Tiger Prawns
1 x 295g tin of Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
750g cooked Rice (I use American Easy cook Long Grain)
1 level Teaspoon Cajun Spice mix (available in most supermarkets)
1 x handful chopped Parsley


Heat the butter in a heavy based pan until melted. Add the Celery and Pepper and cook gently for approx 10 minutes (until well softened)









Add the Onion to the pan , stir well and cook for a further 5 minutes.










Mix the soup with the water and you should have approx 3/4 pint of "soup mix". Add to the vegetables and stir well to combine









Now add your Prawns of Crayfish to the mixture, along with the Cajun Spice mixture. I've chopped my Prawns small because it's feeding a toddler as well, but you don't have to! Cook over a low heat for around 10 minutes, stirring every now and then.







Now add the Parsley and the cooked Rice. Stir well to combine, then heat through for 2 or 3 minutes.









That's it done! Couldn't be easier.......

Chicken Etoufee

A Cajun classic. Over the years i've made this with Tiger Prawns and Crayfish tails as well, so feel free to use them instead of chicken......


2 oz Butter
500g or 1lb of boneless Chicken Breast, cut into thin strips or bite sized chunks
1 small Onion (chopped)
1 green Pepper
1 red Pepper
1 stick Celery (chopped)
1 small red chilli (seeded and finely chopped)
1 teaspoon Cajun Spice Mix - find it with the rest of the spice jars in all supermarkets.
1 teaspoon chopped fresh Basil
2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
2 tablespoons Plain Flour
3 Spring Onions (chopped) - you only need the white bits and maybe the first 1cm of the green.
Pinch of salt

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Wait 2 or 3 minutes and then add the chopped onion, red and green peppers, chopped celery and the chilli. Cook gently over a low heat for about 5 minutes, until softened.

Now add the Cajun spice mix, the Basil and a pinch of salt. Stir well and cook gently for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and put the saucepan to one side.

Now for the tricky(ish) part.....

Gently heat the Vegetable oil in a saucepan, over a medium heat for 2 or 3 minutes. It needs to be hot, but not too hot. Add the flour and stir until it absorbs the oil. Keep stirring as it will stick to the pan if you don't. Keep it on a medium heat and keep stirring until the mixture (it's called a Roux) turns a reddish/brown colour. This may take several minutes. Keep an eye on it, as it will seem to take ages and then suddenly change colour very quickly.

Once your Roux is the right colour (colour of brick will do, a little darker is also good), gradually add the stock and whisk it well as you add, to make a nice thick sauce.

Now return your vegetable mix to the heat and pour the sauce over it. Stir it well and then simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can sneak off to grab a beer at this point.

Now add the Chicken (or the Tiger Prawns or the Crayfish Tails) and the Spring Onions, stir well and simmer for another 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

When the meat is cooked, you are ready to go!

Serve this on a bed of white rice (I use the American Easy Cook type)

Serves 4