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Recipe: Hot Honey-Chicken on a Throne... AKA 'Beer Can Chicken'

By Lee Aquino
Updated  November 30, 2023 10:50am EST
Dinner DeeAs
FOX 13 News

One meal, two names: ‘Hot Honey-Chicken on a Throne’ or ‘Beer Can Chicken’; whichever one you choose, it still tastes delicious. And scroll down for a bonus watermelon salad.

These recipes were shared by Lee Aquino, Executive Chef with the Birchwood family of brands.

Click here to print the recipes, and if you make them, let us know how they turned out. Email us at DinnerDeeAs@fox.com.

Hot Honey-Chicken On a Throne

Brine

Ingredients

  • 2 gallons water
  • 1 container pickle juice
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 cups Old Bay Seasoning

Plus 3-4lb chicken

Directions

Combine ingredients and bring to simmer or until sugar and spices are dissolved

Refrigerate until brine is 41°F or below, then place chicken in brine and refrigerate overnight 

Cooking The Chicken

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks butter
  • 2 cups BBQ spice
  • 2 lbs potatoes
  • 1 bulb fennel
  • 1 leek
  • 2 pints grape tomatoes
  • 3 bulbs garlic
  • 1 beer (16 oz ‘tall boy’ can)

Directions

Preheat oven/grill/smoker to 275°F

After brining overnight, discard and drain all brine leaving the now-flavored chicken

Dry the chicken with paper towels

Using your hands, spread room temperature butter evenly between the skin and meat of the chicken 

Season with BBQ spice, making sure to get the interior of the cavity and all the hard-to-reach areas

Using a rimmed baking sheet or cast iron pan, place the cracked open can of beer in the center, then carefully place the cavity of the bird over the opened beer

Surrouned with chopped vegetables and place in oven/grill/smoker for 2-3 hours  

Monitor the temperature of the bird, probing between thigh and breast for accurate temp, every 30 minutes until internal temperature reaches 160°F

Once cooked, rest for 20 minutes

Hot Honey Dressing

Ingredients

  • 8 fl oz local honey
  • 2 fl oz hot sauce
  • 3-4 lemons juiced & zested
  • 1 fl oz brown mustard

Directions

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl

Discard beer from cooked chicken and pour over hot honey dressing to taste

Carve the chicken and serve family style with the vegetables

Watermelon Poke Salad 

Sushi Rice 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sushi rice
  • 1 cup water

Directions

Rinse sushi rice using a fine mesh strainer, once water is no longer cloudy, drain.  

Place rice and water in rice cooker and turn on, cook for 15 mins

Fan and fluff rice to cool evenly, making sure there are no clumps

Sushi Rice Vinegar

  • ½ cup rice vinegar
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp salt

Directions

Whisk together rice vinegar, sugar and salt until dissolved, then mix into cooked sushi rice

Ponzu Sauce

Ingredients

  • 6 fl oz soy sauce
  • 1 fl oz sesame oil
  • 1 fl oz rice vinegar
  • 1 fl oz mirin wine
  • 2 limes juiced & vested
  • 1 grapefruit juiced & vested

Directions

Zest lime and grapefruit into mixing bowl 

Cut citrus in half and juice into mixing bowl

Add remaining ingredients and whisk

Pickled Ginger Radish

Ingredients

  • 1 container pickled ginger
  • 3 radishes

Directions

Wash and cut radish very thin

Place radish in container and add only liquid from the pickled ginger container

Watermelon

Ingredients

  • 1 seedless watermelon

Directions

Remove outside peel and cut into small cubes

Watermelon Poke Assembly

Ingredients

To taste:

  • sesame seeds
  • crushed wasabi peas
  • cashews
  • cut scallions
  • hand-torn nori sheets
  • cilantro

Toss and marinate cubed Watermelon with ponzu sauce, reserve for 20 mins

In serving bowl, gently toss sushi rice and marinated watermelon

Top with sesame seeds, crushed wasabi peas and cashews, cut scallions, hand-torn nori sheets and cilantro

For more recipes from Dinner DeeAs, click here.