Halal Chicken

We have started cooking Halal chickens. These birds are most definately a little tougher than your average supermarket chicken (while not technically mature chickens and no where near that toughness they are a little older than typical) but the flavor is far and beyond anything I have received at a big box store. Add to that they are about the same price per pound and bigger and I think you have a winning equation!

Here are a few pictures from an 8 pound halal chicken we did on the WSM the other night. The chicken was rubbed inside and out with a simple rub of:
2 chipotles
Teaspoon allspice
2 Tablespoons onion
Tablespoon garlic
Tablespoon rosemary
Tablespoon Lemon Peel

We fired up a full chimney and tossed it on the WSM with a few unlit pieces of lump charcoal. Left all of the vents wide open and the let the cooker do the rest. About an hour and a half later it was done.

From there we made a spicy chicken stock out of the leftovers composed of:

1 Chicken Carcass with some meat left on it (remember this is for a large carcass)
1 Head of garlic, chopped roughly
3 Onions, chopped roughly
2 Tablespoons Celery Seed
3 Guajillo Chile's split in half
3 Hot New Mexico Chile's split in half

We brought this to a simmer (skimming the fat) and then left it for a couple of hours, letting it reduce accordingly. There was about two liters of stock when all was said and done (strained through a fine strainer lined with cheese cloth).

The next night we smoked a pound of meatballs on the WSM and made a Mexican meatball soup with fried corn tortilla strips.

First off the meatballs:

1 Pound ground beef (we used fresh ground chuck)
2 Chipotle Chile's
1 Small diced onion
1/2 Grated Zucchini
1/4 Cup of Fresh Bread Crumbs
1 Egg
4 Cloves Garlic
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Tablespoon Oregano
Salt and Pepper

- Nothing fancy here just toast the chile's and spices, grind them and then mix all of the ingredients together.
- To smoke the meat balls aim for about 350 degrees with a strong wood, we used hickory. Beef can hold it's own flavor wise. They take about 40 minutes.

For the soup:

1 Diced Onion
3 Cloves of Garlic Diced
2 Cascabel Chile's
1 Hot New Mexico Chile
1 Mulato Chile
1 Tablespoon Cumin
1 Tablespoon Oregano
1 Cup White Rice
1/4 Cup Cilantro
Juice of 1 Lime

- Toast the spices and the chiles and grind
- Sweat the onion and garlic until transluscent
- Mix in the stock, spices and the uncooked rice let simmer about 30 minutes until the rice is cooked
- Remove from the heat and add in the meatballs, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper
- Top with deep fried corn tortillas