This is a favorite fall meal, when we’re in the mood for roast chicken but it’s still nice enough outside to grill. The only problem is that we rarely have cans of beer in the house, but I improvised by pouring beer into an empty coke can instead. The beer steams the chicken from within resulting in an incredibly moist chicken. I also stuff the can with fresh herbs (green onions, parsley and garlic chives here) to add even more flavor. And, as with an oven-roasted chicken, the leftovers and bones can be used for several more meals during the week.

Recipe: Beer Can Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 can beer
• several stems green onions
• fresh parsley
• ¼ c butter
• 2 T brown sugar
• 1 T cumin
• 1 t cayenne pepper
• salt & pepper
• 1 whole chicken, 3-4 lbs.

Instructions: Preheat the grill to medium (350*). Open the beer can and pour out (drink) about half. Poke several holes around the top, and stick herbs in the can’s mouth. Place on a large plate or stand. (If you don’t have a stand, you can balance the chicken on the grill using the can and its legs to form a tripod.) Soften the butter and stir in the sugar and seasonings. Rub the mixture under the chicken’s skin and all over the exterior. Place the chicken over the can and carefully transfer onto the grill. Grill over indirect medium heat for 1 hr. to 1 ¼ hrs. Remove from grill (very carefully!) and let stand for 5 minutes before carving. Serves 4.

Recipe: Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 2 T butter, softened
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1/2 t cumin

Instructions: Cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise. Spread butter over cut sides, sprinkle sugar and cumin over the top. Wrap in foil and place on grill, away from the flame, for 40 minutes. Serves 2-4. Enjoy!

Farms of Origin

• free-range chicken, Smith Meadows, Va.
• butter, South Mountain Creamery, Md.
• white sweet potatoes, a Virginia farm, Del Ray Farmers Market, Va.
• herbs, Potomac Vegetable Farms CSA, Va.
• beer, Starr Hill Jomo lager, Va.

Last week was Virginia’s Farmers Market Week, so we celebrated by heading to three local markets last weekend. The toddler and I visited the McLean Market Friday morning, which is located in a shady corner of a park and had a nice mix of vendors, many familiar and a few new. The Middleburg ice cream truck was a fun touch. Westmoreland Berry Farm had giant blackberries and sweet raspberries – the toddler instructed me to keep them coming, one color in each hand. They also had one box of wilted squash blossoms (we were there shortly before closing time) that she threw in free since they were rather sad-looking. Mount Olympus Berry Farm had a rainbow of beautiful peppers (I picked purple and orange), tomatillos and purple and white cream peas. We got our favorite sweet potato bread from Grace’s Pastries, to eat along with the berries, cheese and watermelon for our picnic lunch. (At Clemyjontri, awesome playground a few minutes away.)

Saturday morning the toddler and I headed down to Old Town Alexandria. There were still a few dubious produce stands, including one with lemons and avocados, but I was pleased to see some well-known vendors, like Bigg Riggs, J&W Valley View and Twin Springs. I still have to dock them points on the lay-out though, with so many vendors smushed together in the front and wide open patches in the back, it made for tough going to get through to Bigg Riggs. But, peaches were everywhere. One vendor had a bin of squash blossoms and some small gooseberries still. We hit up the meat/dairy stands, with sweet Italian sausage from Babes in the Woods, Calhoun’s Country Ham, and Blue Ridge Dairy ricotta.

For brunch that day I stuffed my squash blossoms with the ricotta, fresh oregano and a bit of prosciutto, then coated in corn meal and fried. The corn meal was a little heavy – I might mix it into a batter next time instead of dipping in milk/egg and corn meal separately – but they were oh so good. (And that was my local corn meal, too!)

Sunday was a quick stop at the West End Market, where Norma’s had these lovely purple tomatillos. Since I already had the green ones from Friday, I had to pass them up. We picked up Hilldale’s organic chicken which isn’t cheap, but was far and away the juiciest chicken we’ve ever had.

I was sick all week so we stuck to simple meals and I really slacked off in the photo department.

Dinner #1: Grilled Tomatillo Chicken — We marinated the Hilldale chicken (breasts and legs) in a tomatillo-pepper salsa and grilled it, along with some corn on the cob from our CSA bag. Simple and so good!

Dinner # 2: Italian grill — Babes’s Italian sausages, peppers, pattypan squash and golden zucchini, all brushed with olive oil, fresh oregano, sea salt and pepper and thrown on the grill. The toddler is rejecting squash lately (last year he ate the golden zucchini straight from the market table) but loved the sausage. Served with watermelon agua fresca to drink, made from the final remnants of our Eastern Shore melon.

Note to DC-area bloggers: This is the week for the August Farm Fresh Recipe Round-up. Email me at foodietots at gmail dot com by midnight Weds. Aug. 13 if you have a favorite recipe to share!

This week’s OLS dinner was spring herb and yogurt marinated chicken, served with a swiss chard and maitake mushroom saute and a little non-local brown rice (leftover from another meal). Mushrooms, chicken and yogurt came from Pa. (slightly past the 100 mi. border), while the herbs (savory and chives) and chard came from our CSA, Potomac Vegetable Farms in Va. (23 mi.).

For dessert, Virginia ricotta and honey and sweet Pennsylvania cherries. Yum.

Ricotta from Blue Ridge Dairy, Va. (45 mi.)

slurping pasta, originally uploaded by foodietots.

Still trying to get the toddler interested in asparagus, I included it in this simple chicken and pasta dish. No luck though, as he deftly gobbled up the pasta while avoiding the green bits. I also failed in the photo department, as we had company and the only shot I got of dinner was of the toddlers’ dishes. So a gratuitous cute toddler pic will have to suffice this time.

Spring Grilled Chicken & Asparagus Linguine

Ingredients:
12 oz. linguine (I used fresh lemon-pepper linguine, but any type will work)
1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed
1 large chicken breast, split in two
2 T fresh thyme (I used lemon thyme)
salt & pepper
1/2 c plain yogurt
4 oz. herb goat cheese

Instructions:
Step 1: Marinate chicken. Rub chicken with fresh thyme, salt and pepper and coat with yogurt in shallow dish. Marinate at least one hour in refrigerator.
Step 2: Roast asparagus. Toss with 1 t olive oil and spread in single layer on baking sheet. Cook at 425* for 8 minutes, then cool and cut into 1″ long pieces.
Step 3: Cook chicken. Shake off excess yogurt and grill or cook on stove top. Cool and slice.
Step 4: Cook pasta. Cook as instructed and drain. While still warm, toss with goat cheese, chicken and asparagus.
Serves 4.

This is an easy entertaining recipe. You can cook the asparagus and chicken ahead of time, then just cook the pasta when ready to eat. Just make sure to add the goat cheese to warm pasta, as it will melt and coat the noodles. You can also add some olive oil to make a wetter sauce.

Enjoy!