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chicken’s backbone. (Kitchen scissors work great for this.) Pull the backbone out. At this point, the chicken will just fall open. You’re not done yet,

Next-level grillers might consider grilled chicken wings, which take about 45 minutes on a medium-hot grill to reach an internal temperature of 160◦F. Doing this on game night? Marinate them first in Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Wings Hot Sauce. (Frank’s was founded by Louisiana friends Adam Estilette and Jacob Frank of New Iberia, and has been in the hot sauce game for over a century.) Get your grill going while the wings sit for 45 minutes in the sauce, then cook. Smoked chicken is where the action is at, though. For that, grab a couple of whole chickens from Rouses and brine them just as you would a turkey on Thanksgiving. A traditional wet brine involves adding a cup of kosher salt and a cup of brown sugar to a gallon of water. If you have some favorite herbs and some peppercorns, add them to your liking. Two splashes of bourbon wouldn’t hurt either. (One for your mouth, one for the brine.) Let your chickens soak overnight. The next day, pull the chickens from the brine, dry them with paper towels, and put them in a pan and back into the refrigerator, where they can continue air-drying. Once they are dry through and through (a few hours should do it), pull them from the fridge and apply a dry rub to their briny bodies. At that point, it’s time to put them in the smoker. Whole chickens generally take two-and- a-half to three hours in a smoker at 250◦F. They are done when they reach an internal temperature of 160◦F. If you want to smash the orthodoxy, rather than do a wet brine, you can do a dry one. For that, mix two parts kosher salt with one part each of rosemary and thyme, and rub the mixture generously onto a dried whole chicken. If you have extra seasoning at the end, rub it inside the chicken as well. Really get to know your chicken. “To me, chicken that has been dry brined comes out a little better,” says Tim. “It is dryer than a wet brine because it hasn’t been submerged in liquid, but the skin tends to become crispier and it produces a really great flavor.” If you love chicken, and also love breaking things, you might consider smoking a spatch- cocked chicken. This is a pretty grisly affair that begins with brining the chicken overnight, or soaking it in a marinade of your choice. Next, you’re going to remove the neck parts and gizzards from the chicken’s cavity. Then cut along the entire length of the chicken, tail to neck, on both the left and right sides of the

though. Now you get to break its breastbone, which involves pressing down on both halves of the splayed chicken until you hear a crack. Because there’s no going back now, you should next cut the wingtips from the chicken, which you can’t eat and which are just going to burn anyway. The smoking process is pretty much the same as a fully consti- tuted chicken, though for a shorter time: About an hour, though you should let the internal temperature of the chicken be your guide. The downside of this process is that now you are going to have to live with what you have just done. Briskets Among pitmasters, brisket is considered the ultimate smoked meat because of its supple flavor, and the time and challenge necessary to get it just right. “Brisket is the largest cut of meat most of us will cook at home,” explains Nick. “The cooking times are eight to 12 hours, and sometimes longer.” He says that advanced grillers can try making burnt ends, a specialty of barbecue pitmasters that involves separating the “point” and the “flat” — the two muscles that make up a brisket. Between them is a layer of fat that should be cut away. The point end is then seasoned on both sides and smoked at 250◦F for about five hours. Afterward, it is cut into one-inch cubes, placed in a pan, and slathered with barbecue sauce. The pan goes back into the smoker for another hour or so, until the sauce is caramelized. If that sounds a little beyond your skill level, Nick still has a plan for you. “We grind brisket for burgers, too.” Beef short ribs are another go-to items for backyard chefs. “My dad calls beef short ribs ‘brisket on the bone,’” says Nick, explaining that the texture of the meat is similar to a brisket. Short ribs are cut closer

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Be sure to check out the new Rouses Bayou Bombs , which are cream cheese stuffed jalapeños encased in fresh, in-house Rouses Cajun Sausage, then wrapped in bacon — grill-ready and delicious to the front shoulder, which is right by the brisket. “You can get a good heavy smoke on it in a shorter amount of time because they are smaller than a full brisket,” says Tim. BBQ Shrimp The best grilled barbecued shrimp of your life is only a few minutes away. To do it properly, you are going to need a pan that can go on the grill. Peel, devein and clean your shrimp. Next, add them to your fireproof pan and pour in a bottle of Wish-Bone Italian Dressing. Add some Cajun Power Garlic Sauce, some Worcestershire sauce (all available at Rouses, naturally), as well as chopped onions and some fresh-cut squeezed lemons. Add some Abita Beer (this pan is getting full, but man, those shrimp never had it so good) and put the pan on a grill that’s rolling along at 350◦F. After that, finish the rest of your pack of Abita and just let the grill go until the shrimp are cooked. Twice-Baked Potatoes The steps for making backyard twice-baked potatoes couldn’t be easier. You’re going to want to use the top rack of your grill if it has

18 ROUSES SUMMER 2022