Butterflied Beer Steamed BBQ Chicken

You could say this BBQ Chicken Recipe was inspired by its Baby Back Ribs counterpart. But since were talking chicken instead of ribs, it's less fattening and lower in sodium too. It is a little bit more trouble however, since the whole chicken has to be butterflied initially and eventually cut up into quarters.

 

Like the ribs, the secret to the success of this chicken is the combination of grilling and baking. Grilling alone would dry out the chicken and leave you with no juices for gravy. Whereas baking alone would leave the chicken without a crispy skin and that wonderful essence of barbeque, fire, char and smoke.

 

If you're watching your fat calories, this dish is still good with the skin removed, but do wait until after preparation to do so. The grilling and beer steaming combination preparation makes it flavorful and moist even without the skin.

 

Always be extra careful when using poultry shears and boning knifes, they are extremely sharp, designed to cut through bone and can be especially dangerous when used improperly or carelessly. When I work with such tools, I take it slow, think before each action, and make sure there are no distractions.

 

To Left: Butterflied Chicken Breast Side Up Cooking On Grill   To Right: Quartered Chicken Ready To Serve

Ingredients

Quantity

Est. Sodium

Whole Chicken (cleaned ready to cook)	1 Bird	400 mg
Wesson Canola Oil	1 - 2 Tablespoons	0 mg
McCormick Crushed Garlic	2 Teaspoons	0 mg
Mrs Dash Extra Spicy Seasonings	2 Tablespoons	0 mg
Low Sodium Barbque Sauce	1/2 - 1 Cup	130 - 260 mg
Beer	1 Bottle or Can	0 mg

 

Instructions   For about 2 to 3 people, please adjust amounts accordingly

 

• Starting with cleaned out whole chicken carcass, rinsed and ready to go ...
• Butterfly chicken carcass -- with poultry shears, carefully cut down back of bird along one side of the backbone, be careful of shears and sharp chicken bones.
• Lay on tray breast side up, rub canola oil and then crushed garlic over top of bird
• Sprinkle Mrs. Dash evenly over top of bird, and then pat on about 1/4 to 1/2 cup low sodium BBQ sauce on top - be careful not to disturb seasonings, garlic or oil
• Use two hands and two sets of tongs to handle and/or turn butterflied bird
• Grill chicken on hot grill on high heat for about six to eight minutes on each side
• Remove bird and transfer to glass baking dish, breast side up
• If you want chicken saucy, pat some more sauce on top, about 1/8 cup
• Gently pour beer into pan, pouring around chicken, not over it
• Cover loosely with foil and bake about 20 minutes per pound at 325º
• Cut into quarters and serve hot, reserve juices from baking for beer gravy

 

Variations and Substitutions

Brand substitutions are seldom a problem, however, be sure and check to determine if there are any differences in sodium levels. If you don't like spicy, you may wish to try an alternate seasoning to the Mrs. Dash Spicy such as a the original Mrs. Dash (a lemon pepper style mix) or Mrs. Dash Table Blend.

Beer Steamed Drippings Gravy

Our Beer Steamed BBQ Chicken and Beer Steamed Barbque Baby Back Ribs are quite popular. One of the added benefits of these recipes is the tasty juices and pan drippings the beer steaming process creates while they cook.

 

To make a gravy from these drippings you'll first want to seperate the fat from the juices, this can be done either for immeidate use with a fat seperator made special just for this purpose or for later by letting the pan drippings sit overnight in the refrigerator. At which time the fat will rise to the top where it will solidify and be easy to seperate out. Both parts of the drippings will be used later.

 

To complete your gravy, after seperating out the fat, warm the juices slightly if they have cooled down (I microwave them for about 30 seconds),

 

Next, in a sauce pan, melt a small portion of the fat, stir in flour, blend well, and then immediately, but slowly, stir in warmed juices - and you have gravy.

 

Gravy Formula For each cup of juices, use 2 tablespoons fat and 1 to 2 tablespoons flour, the amount of flour depends on how thick you want the gravy.

Easy Homemade Sausage

Love this easy to make sausage, it makes breakfast, gumbo and hot dogs an option again - even on a low sodium diet. They're designed to be mild but still flavorful. Call me crazy, but I think sage is often overdone in sausage, so I went for other flavors instead. It still tastes like sausage and I think it's much better.

Ingredients

Quantity

Est. Sodium

Ground Pork	2/3 lb.	240 mg
Nature's Own Honey Wheat Light Bread	2 Slices	160 mg
Egg	One	70 mg
McCormick Crushed Garlic	1 Teaspoon	0 mg
Cumin Spice	1/2 Teaspoon	0 mg
Onion Powder	1/4 Teaspoon	0 mg
Paprika Spice	1/4 Teaspoon	0 mg
Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy Seasonings	1 Teaspoon	0 mg
Mrs. Dash Table Blend Seasonings	1 Teaspoon	0 mg
Wesson Canola Oil	1 Tablespoon	0 mg

 

Instructions   Makes three to four servings, please adjust amounts accordingly

 

• Remove crust and toast bread slices, after toasting, pulverize into crumbs
• Beat together egg, garlic, onion powder, paprika, cumin and Mrs. Dash
• Knead bread crumbs into ground pork, then knead in beaten egg/spice mixture
• Form sausage into desired shape before pan frying - a thin large round patty for hamburger buns, hot dog shaped for hot dog buns, large links to slice for soup, small link or small patty shaped for breakfast sausages and so forth.
• Heat canola in skillet, on med heat
• Pan fry sausage in canola till cooked thru, turning frequently as not to burn
• Eat immediately after preparation

 

Variations and Substitutions

Brand substitutions are seldom a problem, however, be sure and check to determine if there are any differences in sodium levels.

Creamy Chicken Crepes

When I put this recipe together I was looking for something that reminded me of the wonderful creamy crepes I used to get as a kid on our trips to the Magic Pan. Needless to say, since that was well over 30 years ago, I had to stretch my imagination quite a bit. Just the same, this recipe is just as wonderful to me now as those Magic Pan crepes of my childhood were to me back then.

 

It is important to note that this recipe is a little high on the sodium count, around a total of 1000 mg. However, it's plenty big for two servings, especially if you add extra chicken during preparation. Once divided it comes to around 500 mg per serving which should not be a problem for most sodium restricted diets.

Ingredients

Quantity

Est. Sodium

Freshly Prepared Crepes	2	100 - 230 mg
Freshly Prepared Crepe Sauce	1 and 1/8 Cups	735 mg
Land O Lakes Unsalted Butter	1 Tablespoon	0 mg
Frozen Chopped Onions	1/4 Cup	0 mg
No Sodium White or Blush Wine	1 Tablespoon	0 mg
Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast Diced	4 - 6 Oz. (Raw)	70 - 100 mg
Wondra Quick Mixing Flour	1 Teaspoon	0 mg
Daisy Brand Regular Sour Cream	1/8 Cup	15 mg

 

Instructions   Makes two large crepes, one large or two smaller servings

 

• Sauté onions in butter, add wine to onions while they sauté
• Add diced raw chicken, shake flour over chicken and stir mixture
• Stir while cooking, and cook until chicken is done
• Stir sour cream into chicken mixture, then stir in 1/8 cup Crepe Sauce
• Divide mixture and roll up inside each crepe
• Pour Crepe Sauce over the top and serve

 

Variations and Substitutions

Brand substitutions are seldom a problem, however, be sure and check to determine if there are any differences in sodium levels.

Crepe Sauce

This a very rich, flavorful sauce that goes well with just about anything. It's great over crepes of course, and was especially designed for chicken crepes. However, it's also good over chicken, rice or potatoes. It makes a nice substitute for gravy and could even be used to create a smothered steak dish.

Ingredients

Quantity

Est. Sodium

Land O Lakes Unsalted Butter	1 Tablespoon	0 mg
Wondra Quick Mixing Flour	1 Teaspoon	0 mg
Water	1/4 Cup	0 mg
Rapunzel No Salt Added Bouillon	1 Cube	260 mg
365 Brand Buttermilk	1/2 Cup	120 mg
Campbells 25% Reduced Cream Of Mushroom	1/4 Cup	325 mg
Daisy Brand Regular Sour Cream	1/4 Cup	30 mg

 

Instructions   Makes over 1 cup, 1 to 4 servings, depending upon recipe or use

 

• Measure out and have everything ready to go, ready to add to pan
• Slightly warm water enough to dissolve bouillon cube into it
• Melt butter in med hot pan, stir in flour, add and stir in bouillon water mixture
• Reduce heat a little, making sure mixture is not overheating, burning or sticking
• Stir in buttermilk, then soup, then sour cream
• Blend well, utilize a safe coated whisk or carefully run through blender
• Pour over crepes, chicken, potatoes, rice or even breaded minute steak

 

Variations and Substitutions

Brand substitutions are seldom a problem, however, be sure and check to determine if there are any differences in sodium levels.

Easy Crepes

A quick easy way to make crepes, keep it basic and low in sodium as is, or add a 1/2 vegan bouillon cube for more flavor and just an extra 130 mg sodium.

Ingredients

Quantity

Est. Sodium

Wondra Quick Mixing Flour	1/2 Cup	0 mg
365 Organic Whole Milk	1/4 Cup	32 mg
Egg	One	70 mg
Water	1/4 Cup	0 mg
Rapunzel No Salt Added Bouillon (Optional)	1/2 Cube	130 mg

 

Instructions   Makes 2 large crepes, 1 to 2 servings, please adjust accordingly

 

• Slightly warm 1/4 cup water ( I microwave 8 seconds) and blend in Bouillon
• Beat together water bouillon mixture, milk, egg and flour (I use a Magic Bullet)
• Mixture should pour out thin, for a thin crepe, but be thick enough to flip and turn
• Pour onto non-stick pan slightly coated with butter, cook and turn crepe until done

 

Variations and Substitutions

Brand substitutions are seldom a problem, however, be sure and check to determine if there are any differences in sodium levels.

Buttermilk Dressing With Goat Cheese Crumbles

I must humbly say this is one of the best ranch style buttermilk dressings I've ever had. I was looking for something to produce that expected ranch style flavor while keeping the sodium down. What I came up with was a hard to beat dressing perfect for salad, bbq and veggie dipping.

 

I can't actually call this a low sodium dressing, but in the end it is still lower in sodium compared to most, about 240 per 1/4 cup of dressing versus the 440 mg sodium count you would get from the comparable store bought retail brand.

 

A solution to keep your meal sodium count down would simply be to serve it on a salad accompanied by an entree that is particularly low in sodium such as our spaghetti and meat sauce recipe. When served as a dip, just serve it with no sodium celery stalks and carrot sticks for a tasty low sodium snack.

 

By the way, the secret to this dressing, what gives it it's particular flavor and texture is goat cheese. Not sure what prompted me to try it, but it worked.

Ingredients

Quantity

Est. Sodium

365 Brand Buttermilk	3/4 Cup	180 mg
McCormick Crushed Garlic	1/2 Teaspoon	0 mg
Spectrum Organic Mayonnaise	1/4 Cup	260 mg
Rapunzel No Salt Added Vegan Bouillon	1/2 Cube	130 mg
McCormick Dehydrated Onion Powder	1/2 Teaspoon	0 mg
McCormick Quick Dried Parsley	1/2 Teaspoon	0 mg
Cheese Buys Goat Cheese Crumbles	1/4 Cup	260 mg

 

Instructions Makes about 4 - 2 1/2 Tbs size servings, about 210mg sodium each

 

• Blend ingredients together in a blender, cuisine art, magic bullet or similar tool
• Chill preferably overnight or until cold and thick
• Serve on salad or with veggies, bar-b-que, pita chips or low sodium crackers

 

Variations and Substitutions

Brand substitutions are seldom a problem, however, be sure and check to determine if there are any differences in sodium levels.

Buttermilk

Yes, buttermilk is a milk product, but no, it does not contain actual butter per say. However, in the old days it was made from the sour, residual liquid that remained after the butter was churned. You could often see little flecks of butter in the milk that were misplaced during the skimming process.   Today, it is usually made by adding a lactic acid bacteria culture to pasteurized whole milk where it is then fermented and salt later added, this is known as "cultured" buttermilk.

 

Many people are surprised to learn that buttermilk is no higher in fat than regular whole milk, it does however have more sodium, about 240 mg per cup. It is thicker with a creamier texture than regular milk, but not quite as thick as cream. There are a few low fat low sodium buttermilk varieties available including one from Friendship Dairies, but we haven't been able to try them yet.

 

Buttermilk is often used in baking and it's classic taste adds a delightful, almost sour flavor to biscuits, pancakes, waffles, cookies, pies, donuts, bread and more. I also like the flavor and texture it adds to fried chicken, batters, marinades, sauces and salad dressings. It's a wonderful cooking secret.

 

For the record, there are different kinds of buttermilk, which vary by production and flavor - Traditional, also known as "natural" or "ordinary" buttermilk, is made the old fashioned way from the residual liquid produced during the butter churning process; Cultured, also known as "artificial", is artificially made utilizing whole milk and lactic acid bacteria; Bulgarian, a cultured buttermilk also, but one which uses a different strain of bacteria for a slightly tarter taste; and, Acidified buttermilk which is made by adding a food-grade acid product.

Cheese Buys Goat Cheese Crumbles

Cheese Buys Crumbled Goat Cheese   wholefoodsmarket.com

I must admit the snob in me was a little reluctant to try this discount crumbled goat cheese packaged in such a plain, simple package. But frankly, after I tried it, I am of the opinion that it would be hard to beat, by even the most expensive of brands. It's particularly good added to salads or salad dressings.

 

Like any cheese, Cheese Buys has it's share of sodium, but goat cheese, including this one, tend to be a little lower in the count than most. 130mg/2tbs

Cheese Buys Discount Cheese Products

Cheese Buys is a surprisingly tasty cheese line from the Whole Foods Market private label selection. The first time I tried it I was very surprised to see just how tasty, fresh and high quality a discount cheese brand could actually be. Now it's one of the first cheese selections I reach for when cooking or eating.