The guy version of this dish is beer-can chicken, an innocent, primitive way of vertically grill-roasting a bird. We found this barbaric technique opened a whole new world of therapy and saucy ideas for women back from the edge of heartbreak. Serves four to six people.


Ingredients

  • 2 cups hickory or mesquite chips
  • 1 cup barbecue sauce, preferably KC Masterpiece Original
  • ½ cup whiskey, preferably Jack Daniels
  • 1 whole chicken (4 to 4½ pounds), fat removed
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 can Diet Coke
  • Disposable foil pan
  1. Soak the wood chips in cold water and cover for one hour. Set up the grill for indirect cooking. Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill or preheat one side of a gas or electric grill on high.
  2. While the grill is heating, prepare the chicken: In a small bowl, mix together the barbecue sauce and whiskey. Sprinkle the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Slather about ½ cup of the barbecue sauce and whiskey mixture all over the bird. Set aside. Open the Diet Coke and pour about one-third of the can into an ice-filled glass and drink it. Reserve the rest in the can.
  3. Drain the chips and sprinkle half of them over the coals, or place half in the grill’s smoker box. Place a disposable foil pan under the grate (on the unlit side of the grill) to catch the drippings.
  4. Here comes the fun part: Stand the Coke can on a work surface. What you are going to do is basically impale the chicken on the can. When you sense a homicidal rage or a smash-and-stomp moment coming on, this will feel great. Stand the chicken up and ease it over the can as you insert it into the bird’s main cavity. Adjust and spread the chicken’s legs to form a tripod. This stabilizes the bird so it can be grill-roasted standing up. Carefully transfer the chicken to the side of the grill without coals under it, centering the chicken over the drip pan. Adjust the chicken’s legs to stabilize it on the grill rack.
  5. Cover the grill and smoke-cook the chicken for 40 minutes. Turn the chicken so that the side that was facing the heat is now turned away from it. Add the rest of the soaked wood chips, cover and grill another 40 minutes. Baste the chicken with half of the remaining barbecue and whiskey sauce. Cover and cook 10 minutes. Baste the chicken again with the last of the sauce. Cover and grill another 10 minutes, or until the juices run clear when pierced with a knife or an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees when inserted into the thickest parts of the breast and thigh.
  6. Carefully transfer the chicken, still standing up, to a baking dish and carry it to a carving board. Lift the bird off the can and let the chicken rest for five minutes before carving and serving.