Vivian Howard Chicken And Rice Recipes

BLUEBERRY BBQ CHICKEN

Steps:

• Sauce: In a food processor, add blueberries, vinegar, and sugar. Pulse to break up the berries into a chunky pulp. Place mixture into a saucepan; add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, and crushed red pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, covered, 10-15 minutes.
• Remove from heat; remove cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Carefully transfer the sauce to a blender. Make sure the lid is entirely sealed to prevent sauce from spattering while you blend. Blend the sauce to a smooth consistency, starting on low speed and gradually increasing to high. When sauce is smooth, strain it through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl.
• Transfer sauce back to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, uncovered, and reduce by ¼, about 5 minutes. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon, and the viscosity should be more like maple syrup than honey. Pour into a container and cool to room temperature. Makes about 2 cups. (Sauce will keep for up to 6 months refrigerated in a lidded container.)
• Prep chicken: Lay spatchcocked chicken breast side up on a wire rack fitted over a rimmed baking sheet. Season liberally on both sides with salt and pepper (about 15 turns of a pepper mill per side). Let rest at room temperature while preheating the grill, 30 minutes.
• Grill chicken: Preheat a charcoal grill to medium-high heat, about 375 F. The coals should be ashed over in some places, with red embers burning within. Move the coals to one side of the grill to create areas of both direct and indirect heat. Place the chicken skin side up on the side of the grill over the coals (direct heat). Cover and cook, 15 minutes.
• Divide the Blue Q Sauce: half should be used for basting, while the other half should be reserved for the final baste and for serving. (If the cooled sauce has thickened too much, simply reheat in a saucepan over low heat, or briefly microwave to return to its original syrupy consistency before using.) Remove the lid. Use tongs to flip the chicken over, skin side down, onto the indirect heat side of the grill. Baste the underside of the bird with Blue Q Sauce, then gently re-position back over direct heat, still skin side down. Cover and cook, 5 minutes. Repeat this process-flipping, basting, and grilling for 5 minutes at a time, covered-2-3 more times, until chicken is fully cooked. (The leg, when tugged, should become loosened from the breast. Alternatively, a thermometer placed in the thickest part of the thigh, avoiding the bone, should register 165 F.) Discard remaining basting sauce.
• Remove chicken from the grill and place on a cutting board, skin side up. Use reserved Blue Q Sauce to baste one last time and let rest, 5 minutes. Cut the chicken into 6 or 8 pieces and drizzle once more with sauce. Serve warm or at room temperature with additional sauce on the side.

SWEET AND SPICY PECANS

Steps:

• Preheat to 350 degrees F. Whisk egg whites until they are doubled in volume and stick to the whisk (just before "soft peak" stage). Gradually whisk in sugar and salt. Add spices: paprika, chipotle, cumin, paprika and coriander. Whisk to combine. Add pecans, then use a rubber spatula to toss, coating the nuts evenly.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread nuts in a single layer. Bake on the middle rack for 10 minutes.
• Remove baking sheet. Use a spatula to flip pecans, breaking up any clumps, working quickly so they don't lose their heat. Bake an additional 10-20 minutes. (Total baking time will vary depending on size and moisture content of nuts.) When pecans are ready, they will be dark brown; when tapped with a spoon, they should sound dry and flat. Remove from oven and cool before serving. Pecans will keep for 2 weeks at room temperature stored in an airtight container.

VIVIAN HOWARD'S PICKLED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Put your tomatoes in a large, wide, heatproof bowl that is plenty large enough to hold all the ingredients. I like to assemble and start to "pickle" my weapons there on the counter, letting their flavors marry as they cool down. Then, once they're mixed together and have reached room temperature, I transfer them to smaller containers suitable for the fridge. (This recipe is sized to just barely fit into two quart-size mason jars, but you may have a little extra. While you can try to pull it all together directly in the jars, that might just be a big mess waiting to happen.)
• In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, bring all the ingredients except for the tomatoes and the olive oil to a boil over medium heat. Let it boil for 1 minute. Then add the olive oil and bring back to a boil. Immediately pour over the tomatoes in the big bowl, pressing them down to make sure they are submerged.
• Let the tomatoes and the liquid cool to room temperature without the aid of an ice bath or anything to speed the process along. If you've got room in your fridge, the big bowl can go in there. But if the weapons sit out at room temperature overnight, that's totally fine. The more slowly they cool down, the more quickly they will pickle. Once they've cooled, transfer the pickled tomatoes to jars and refrigerate for a minimum of 3 days or up to 3 months.