Tandoori Beer Can Chicken and Warm Curry Potato Salad

As Summer draws to a close there is still time for some good barbecuing. The great part about these dishes? They can been done indoors as well as outdoors. I beer can chickens and turkeys all year long. It's such a good way to ensure a moist bird. This recipe doesn't even need to be beer canned as I discovered while trying to make it while on vacation on one of those newer low top barbecues. Just put the bird on it's back and pour some of the leftover marinade in the cavity. It steams up quite nicely!

Tandoori Beer Can Chicken - Serves 2 -4 (buy 1 1/2 - 2 lbs per person)

Ingredients:

• 3 - 4 lb chicken
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp sea or kosher salt
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1/2 tbsp ground ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric
• 3 cardamon pods
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper ( more if you like it extra spicy)
• *mix up the spices however you like, most Indian homes have their own special spice blend so feel free to create your own, add whatever spices make you think of Indian food!
• red food colouring (optional)
• 1 beer or pop can, half emptied out
• 1/2 red onion, cut in chunks

Instructions:

1. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze about 1/4 cup of juice in a glass or plastic bowl, add in salt.
2. Make some cuts into the meat all over the chicken to allow the marinade to really get in there.
3. Toss the chicken in the lemon and salt and let sit at least 15 minutes but no longer than an hour.
4. Rinse the chicken and pat dry
5. In the lemon juice and salt bowl, remove any of the salt residue left at the bottom, try to leave about 1 tbsp lemon juice, add more if necessary.
6. Add in everything from garlic to red food colouring from the ingredient list. Mix.
7. Add in the chicken and make sure the marinade is all over the inside and outside of the bird
8. Let sit for 6 - 12 hours
9. Prepare the bbq for indirect grilling or set the oven for 425 degrees
10. Empty your beer can another 1/4 and add in some of the marinade to bring the can up to 1/2 full
11. Stuff the chicken with the cut up chunks of red onion and the leftover lemon in both the bottom and the top.
12. Place the chicken on the beer can and put on the grill. If you aren't beer canning it, put the chicken on it's back and pour some of the marinade into the cavity.
13. If cooking in the oven, start at 425 and reduce to 350 after the first 15 minutes. This is a little harder to do on a bbq but you should start high and then reduce the temp as it starts to brown. Check it after the first 15 minutes and adjust as necessary
14. Cook until the legs are loose or the temp reads 180 degrees with a meat thermometer. (about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours for a 3 - 4 lb bird)

Warm Curry Potato Salad

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Mayo
• 1/2 tbsp Madras Curry Powder (or regular curry powder if you can't find Madras)
• 2 tsp Sugar
• 2 tbsp White wine vinegar
• 3 Green Onions, chopped
• Any Combo of the following -
• White potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Green beans
• Peas
• Cauliflower

Instructions:

1. Mix up Mayo through green onions, adjust to meet your tastes! ( I never measure)
2. Boil potatoes, blanche green beans, peas and/or cauliflower.
3. Mix it all together and enjoy!

You can toss some of the diced leftover chicken into the potato salad for a quick lunch of leftovers. Enjoy!