Saturday, March 21, 2009

Beer Can Chicken


We made this for Grace and Rene's Birthday party. It was inspired by our trip to Napa and our dinner at The Bounty Hunter. In an idea world, this would be cooked on a grill. I cooked it in the oven and it worked out great. The key is to cut the top off the beer can with a can opener. Then pour half the beer out and put some of the seasoning inside. Then place the chicken sitting upright over the beer can. The whole point is that the beer will boil up and flavor the chicken. Make sure you have a good rub for the chicken as well. I used the following:

cumin
chili powder
tumeric
brown sugar
paprika
salt
pepper

The Beer: Tecate

The result: delicious!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Strawberry Balsamic Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting



I made this cake for a birthday party we had for both of my roommates. I got this recipe from my sister, the queen of cakes as far as I know. As you can see by all our cake posts, she's quite accomplished, so I knew she would have the perfect cake recipe. I altered the recipe slightly because I love the flavors of strawberries and balsamic. It turned out really well, and the cream cheese in the whipped cream frosting has a slight tangy flavor. The cake base is very light due to the whipped egg whites. The strawberry filling has just the right amount of tang and sweetness to complement the yellow cake base. Here are some pictures that show how the cake is put together.