Sometimes all I can do to keep it together on a Friday afternoon at work is to take a quick break from the demands of the day and dream of something better. Like the weekend.
And so this Friday afternoon Regan and I planned an impromptu dinner with good friends to kick off the weekend right. First, we got our friends on board. Then we got the menu set — and when I say menu, I say that loosely. We purchased a chicken and some cookies from Goose the Market. And from there we depended on our resourcefulness and a bunch of goodies sent from one of my very best friends in Ireland to build the rest of the meal.
Menu:
• Homemade salsa and chips
• Fresh Boston Bibb from the garden
• Beer can chicken on the grill, covered in barbeque rub
• Chocolate mousse with sea salt and chocolate chip cookies
It was fun. It was delicious. We sat on the front porch late into the evening, eating, drinking, laughing and sweating in the summer heat. Resolutions from the evening were that we need to install fans on the front porch, we need to eat grilled chicken more often and we need to make impromptu get togethers with fine people a regular occurrence. It’s really the only way to enjoy a summer fully.
And just because I hate to tempt you with all this delicious food without giving you the means to make part of the meal on your own, here’s the recipe for the barbeque rub. It pretty much made the meal.
Barbeque Rub
(Based on the Basic Barbecue Rub in How to Grill by Steven Raichlen)
Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup smoked paprika (we used Periquin. It is adorably packaged.)
• 2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons course sea salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Makes enough to cover a 5 lb chicken with some left over.
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