Brian Crow » brian

Garlic Pepper Chicken Brine

brian — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:16:21 +0000

I am a food lover. I don’t just like food, I love it. So, imagine my surprise when I heard about using a brine to enhance the flavor and moistness of chicken! There seems to be a lot of opinions on how to best create the brine and for how long to leave the chicken in. Here’s what I used:

10 lbs of chicken quarters
1 gallon cold of water
1 1/2 cups Kosher salt (don’t use iodized salt)
1 1.2 cups white sugar
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon allspice
3 large cloves garlic chopped finely
1 tablespoon red chili pepper flake

Heat 2 cups of water to near boiling. Remove from heat and add salt and sugar. Stir until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved. Add back to the rest of the water. Add the rest of the ingredients to the water and chill.

You can either completely submerge the chicken in a pot with a weight on top or use zip lock bags to brine them. I put three leg quarters in a 1-gallon zip lock bag and filled with 4 cups of the liquid solution. Make sure you get an even amount of ‘goodies’ with the water you pour in each bag if you go that route.

Put the chicken in the refrigerator and allow to sit for between 4 and 6 hours. When you are ready to cook the chicken, remove from the brine and completely rinse. The chicken will be a little salty if you don’t get a good rinse on them.

Barbecue or bake normally (to 180 degrees). I actually barbecued the chicken to get a good brown skin on it then put it in the oven to finish it off.

If you like a little spicier chicken, add a couple more tablespoons of red chili powder. Garlic lovers (like me) add a few more cloves. The chicken will take on the flavor of the spices in the brine so be careful not to overdo it.

I was completely stunned at how moist the meat was. Even the breast meat was juicy.

Prost!

New Video: Kaitlyn Maher – You Were Meant To Be

brian — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:50:34 +0000

I’m pretty excited that Kaitlyn Maher has posted the video I put together for her song “You Were Meant to Be.”

The first few days of editing the video were pretty slow going with having to wipe my eyes every minute. It’s a really powerfully written song with great lyrics. I was honored to be on a Compassion trip this last spring with Kaitlyn and truly enjoyed filming her and talking with her. What a fun kiddo with a great heart!

If you’re not sponsoring a child, I’d like to take my moment here on this soapbox to encourage you to do so. It’s only $38 per month. You’ll change the life of a child who needs you and as a side-effect, you’ll be changed, too.

Creation deemed a success story – Enumclaw Courier-Herald

brian — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:36:41 +0000

Almost 1,400 volunteers rallied to make Creation Northwest 2010 rock. As volunteer coordinator, no-one knows better how many people and how much effort it takes to pull off something of this magnitude.

The Enumclaw Courier-Herald wrote a nice article about the impact our little festival had on the community. You can read it here:

Creation deemed a success story – Enumclaw Courier-Herald.

Funny Justin Timberlake Medley

brian — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:29:07 +0000

This is perhaps the most creative video I have seen. Playing everything from an iphone to a ukulele, pay careful attention to how each object is used.

Thanks to my buddy Fred for sending me a link to this video. I get distracted by shiny objects and this video kept me rapt for the entire 5 minutes.

Haiti Video: The Needs of One Family

brian — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:39:38 +0000

Pastor LaFleur describes what has been done for a needy family of 8 as the rainy season approaches. Also, he talks about the hope to build a small home for the same family.