Chef Earl's Barbecue

A couple of weeks ago we picked up a spice rub blend and some BBQ sauce from Chef Earl's BBQ.  It was the first time we had seen them at Farmer's Market.  Felicia, Chef Earl's wife was there offering samples.  The little taste of "marriage" we were given on a potato chip was so good we had to purchase.

What is "marriage"?  It's a combination of Chef Earl's Southwestern Chipotle Rub and their Smoked Chipotle BBQ sauce.

We also picked up some chicken breasts from Otis Family Farms with a plan of BBQ chicken for dinner.  That evening I mixed the rub with some BBQ sauce, slathered it on the chicken and put it on the grill.  It was delicious.  I mean really delicious!

So this past Saturday we made sure to stop at Chef Earl's table and get some more.  This time Chef Earl was there himself!  He asked how I had used the sauce and rub and I told him.  He said he had a better way!

So tonight we did BBQ chicken the Chef Earl way.  He told me to first place the chicken in an ice bath for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, pull the chicken out of the ice bath and coat it with the rub (without drying it off) then put it in the refrigerator for 8 hours.  He said not to sauce it until after it was cooked.  Lucky for me Dave was home working on his capstone today so he could do the prep this morning.

We threw (well gently placed really) the chicken on the grill and this is the result!  

I put mine on a bun with sauce but I tasted it without sauce first.  Holy cow!  The flavor seemed to go right through the chicken.  It had amazing heat but great flavor too.  Then I tried it with the sauce and it was even better.  The sweet and smoky of the sauce with the lemon pepper, garlic and chipotle rub was so stinkin' good!  I think we're going to have chicken more often!  

Chef Earl has many varieties of sauce.  We might have to try some of the others.  If you're in the neighborhood check them out at the St. Paul Farmer's Market.  If not, check out their website at www.chefearlsbbq.com.  They do mail order!