Bean Butt Chicken
Why I Love This Recipe
The centerpiece of your meal made right on your grill! This innovative dish props a chicken on top of a can of spiced up, fiber-packed baked beans and roasts them on the grill for a savory entrée and side dish all in one.
Ingredients You'll Need
1 chicken, about 4 pounds, washed and dried
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 can (16 ounces) baked beans
Directions
Preheat the grill to medium (about 350°F) over indirect heat. If you have a 3 or 4 burner grill the middle burners should be off. If you have a 2 burner grill, one side should be off. If you are using charcoal, preheat a split bed of charcoal (about 24 pieces per side) to a medium thick ash. Place a drip pan between the mounds of charcoal.
Rub the chicken inside and out with 2 tablespoons chili powder, and salt and pepper, and rub the outside of the chicken with 2 teaspoons oil. Remove the label from the unopened can; wash the can. Open the can of beans. Stir the remaining 1 teaspoon chili powder into the beans. Coat the outside of the can with oil. Put the can on a plate or sturdy sheet pan.
Lower the chicken onto the can, inserting the can into the internal cavity of the bird. Position the chicken so that the front legs and the can form a tripod holding the chicken upright. Put the chicken and can on the grill away from the heat, cover the grill (without touching the chicken to the grill top) and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh registers about 170°F, about 1 1/2 hours. If your grill has an external temperature gauge, it should stay around 350°F. If you are using charcoal, you will probably have to replenish the coals after the first hour.
Once cooked, transfer the chicken, still on the can to a plate or tray. Holding the can with tongs and gripping the chicken with a clean towel, twist and lift chicken off the can. Transfer to a carving board. Rest for 8 to 10 minutes; carve and serve some of the chicken with some of the beans.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: (with skin removed from chicken): Calories 470; Total fat 18g; Saturated fat 4.5g; Cholesterol 170mg; Sodium 400mg; Total carbohydrate 13g; Fiber 4g; Protein 60g; Vitamin A 20%DV; Vitamin C 2%DV*; Calcium 6%DV; Iron 20%DV
*Daily Value
**Recipe adapted by the Canned Food Alliance
***From Mastering the Grill, written by Andrew Schloss and David Joachim. Published by Chronicle Books 2007
