Friday FUN: Beer Chicken

Summertime means it's time for meals in the yard with family, firing up the grill, making delicious salads and even enjoying a few cocktails. In the spirit of summertime, Cool Dads Cook is introducing Friday FUN: each week we'll provide you with a new and delicious summertime recipe. 

The Wisconsin Test Kitchen spent Memorial Day weekend doing some much needed yard work, and we cooked a ton of delicious food. After being cooped up all winter, it felt wonderful spending a weekend out in the yard... even pulling weeds didn't seem so bad.

After spending Sunday weeding the flower beds and staining our front steps, we decided it was time to break out the grill and enjoy ourselves. We tried a new recipe for marinated chicken legs that did not disappoint!

Grilled Beer Chicken
Recipe courtesy of http://recipemothers.com/recipe/grilled-beer-chicken/

8-10 chicken drumsticks
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp onion salt
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3-4 cloves of garlic
Juice of half a lime
1 cup beer (We went with Bud Light Lime)
handful of chopped fresh parsley
Salt to taste

1) Wash drumsticks and place into a plastic bag
2) Mix together the olive oil, onion salt, paprika, ground cumin, 1/4 of a teaspoon of cayenne powder and ground black pepper.
3) Squeeze in half of a lime, and grated garlic cloves
4) Pour in beer.
5) Stir everything together. Add salt to taste.
6) Mix in a handful of chopped parsley
7) Seal the marinade in the bag with the chicken pieces. Allow chicken to marinade for at least a couple of hours, even longer if you wish.

8) Throw that chicken on the grill! 
9) If it’s pink, it’s not done! Grill it nice and golden brown with a light black char. Use a meat thermometer and make sure the internal temperature of the chicken gets to 170 degrees. That's the easiest way to make sure it's done.

The chicken turned out flavorful, juicy and delicious with a slight taste of lime. We loved it. But it did raise the question: if we were to make the chicken again; what kind of beer would we use next time? The Bud Light was a pretty neutral, unoffensive brew to use on the chicken; but we couldn't help but wonder what kind of flavor a hoppy IPA or a citrusy Belgian might impart.

What do you guys think? Is there a beer you like to cook with? We love hearing from our readers- help keep our Fridays FUN!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew