The End of Chicken

All good things must end, and this is how our last night barbecuing chicken on the Panzer Kitchen patio ended.

Here's how it began:


And here was the secret to its success:


A third sauce, Vernon's Jerk, isn't pictured, but it was the clear winner. Still, I can't complain about the other two, as the photo up top proves.

Barbecued Chicken

This post is pretty much self explanatory. Cover chicken in a sauce and throw it on the grill. After that, it's all a matter of opinion. I like to start it out on a very very hot grill and get it nice and charred on both sides, basting every time I turn it. Toward the end, I'll turn the heat down (this doesn't apply if you've got a charcoal grill) to let it finish cooking on the inside. I've heard that eating the burned bits can kill you, but so can being bitten by the rabid squirrel who's still camping out on our patio, or getting hit by a speeding bicycle messenger. I'll take my chances.

Plenty of people make their own marinade, which is often delicious. But sometimes I prefer to go to an overpriced market and pay a premium (about $6 in the case of this jerk sauce) for a fancy marinade that also delivers--without the work.

Put the asparagus directly on the grill, moving around occasionally, and don't worry about it.

Stay tuned for more barbecue from the Panzer Patio before our move next week. Yes, we're moving! Not to a new home page, but to a new actual, 3-dimensional home in a place called Sunset Park. Google it.

We'll miss climbing out the bathroom window to get to our patio. Some guests think it's strange, also inconvenient, and even embarrassing when they actually have to use the toilet. But we think it's charming, in the way many things can be charming in tiny Brooklyn apartments, like book shelves made from old wine crates and breakfast "nooks".

No-Skewer Chicken Satay

From Tom in New York. Chicken Satay: Turn on the broiler to heat and slice a few chicken breasts into thin strips. Toss with a small splash of vegetable oil and some spices of your choice, maybe coriander, curry powder, a bit of cayenne. Prepare a peanut sauce by mixing a scoop of chunky peanut butter with a few squirts of soy sauce, some brown sugar, and enough lime juice to thin the mixture. Cover a jelly-roll pan with foil and lay out the chicken strips. Stick under the broiler for just a couple of minutes until crisp. Side dishes include grated cucumber with sliced red onion, rice-wine vinegar and a sprinkling of sugar, and microwaved or steamed snap peas.

Beer-in-the-Butt Chicken

Take the top of the beer can off with a can opener, empty half the beer out, then plop in spices of your choice—in this case, garlic cloves, thyme, tarragon. Rub the chicken with butter, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, stick it, butt first, over the beer. Cook in a 350-degree oven for about an hour.