ROAD TRIP!! Oatmeal-Stout-Maple-Mustard-Glazed Chicken

 

This recipe comes from "The Gourmet's Guide to Cooking with Beer" cookbook.  It was purchased during my husband's and my favorite trip we've taken together. For Christmas 2009 we drove from where we lived in Enterprise, AL, to where my cousins live in Colorado Springs, CO. ROAD TRIP!

What a great trip. Some of our fondest memories are getting on the road in states we had never visited and exploring a little while we drove to our destination. One of the bright spots for us was Missouri. We drove north up the eastern part of the state and found gorgeous, rolling hills and countryside.

Around lunchtime I spotted a billboard that said "Crown Valley Brewing Company" and the exit number. The sign promised food and craft beer. Sold!

 

We discovered that Crown Valley also had a vineyard. 

 

Once we arrived (after several miles traveled off the beaten path) we were excited to find this. They had just launched within the year and the inside was gorgeous! Here we enjoyed lunch (the food? I completely forget what we ate) and a sampling of some great beers. They had just opened a few months before.

And a little store where I purchased the cookbook. The book itself is not connected with the brewery or Missouri but I bought it here. Great memory! And now Crown Valley beer can be found in Georgia as well as other states! (We also stopped by the winery and took a brief visit there.)

So I decided to make a little something this week using beer and chicken. POW: the cookbook!

This recipe can't get much simpler: 

Oatmeal-Stout-Maple-Mustard-Glazed Chicken

Marinate chicken parts (in this case I used all legs) in about a cup of beer (I used more) with a sprig of rosemary. I didn't have a sprig available so I used some crushed rosemary. Four to six hours in the fridge.

In the meantime combine: 1/2 cup of the beer (in this case I used a little North Carolina beer: Highland Brewing Oatmeal Porter), 1 cup of maple syrup (it is so worth it to splurge and use real maple syrup! After living in New England for so many years I haven't used the cheap stuff in a long, long time...you may as well just use sugar. No Mrs. Butterworth's!!) and 1/3 of a cup of dijon mustard. Bring to a boil in a saucepan and turn heat to a simmer and let it reduce (book says 4 minutes...it will take a little longer than that.) 

Set aside about 1/2 cup of the glaze to baste the chicken while you cook or grill it. The rest? You can drizzle over the chicken.

The recipe calls for grilling....we aren't allowed to grill in this crazy condo community (don't get me started!) so I opted for a high heat bake. Oven at about 425, sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and maybe a little garlic then set on a wire rack on a cookie sheet. In my case - a stoneware bar pan with a cookie cooling wire rack set inside. Bake for about 35-45 minutes - checking and basting (use a silicone brush) a few times during the process. Chicken is done when thermometer reads 165 (salmonella dies at this temp and the way most chicken is processed. I've had salmonella. Believe me, you want to cook it to 165!)

Serve it with some green beans, spinach salad and wild grain rice. The chicken had a wonderful slightly sweet, roasty flavor. Delicious and easy! (You'll need a lot of napkins - this is nice and sticky/gooey!)

Fenway wants some!