Beach Chicken

Our Food, Townie, Uncategorized No Responses »
Sep 042011

Beach Chicken recipe was born out of necessity one beach vacation, long ago, when Boy1 was so small that now he assumes beach chicken always existed. Beach Chicken was so successful, the dish was considered an essential part of the family beach experience and until recently, was only served during beach week. The recipe was so easy to make, however, that we recently pressed beach chicken into service during vineyard weekends, when a quick, tasty meal are always appreciated.

The original Beach Chicken recipe was always grilled, however, our recent beach vacation rental didn’t have an easy access grill. Ger worked out a stove top method that boy2 really loved. During Hurricane Irene, I made Beach Chicken for the boyz ala Topsail method. It was an easy way to distract us from the approaching storm and celebrated the last weekend of summer before school. Here is the stove top method, but you could easily grill the Beach Chicken—but you will have to make the sauce separately. Enjoy!

Beach Chicken ala Topsail

  • Chicken Thighs, enough for your family
  • Salsa, enough to cover the chicken thighs, plus a bit more for the sauce
  • Alcohol: Rum, Tequila, Vodka—whatever you have on hand—about a half cup to cup, depending upon the size of your crowd.
  • 3 cloves smashed garlic

Toss the chicken, salsa, and alcohol of choice into a gallon storage bag or bowl with plastic wrap covering. Stuff into the refrigerator. Go out and enjoy the beach. Or, work hard in the vineyard.

Come back and grill the chicken. Offer salsa on the side with whatever else you are offering.

Or! Dredge chicken in some flour, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and garlic powder. Brown chicken in olive oil in a big, deep fry pan. Then pour more the marinade & more salsa (if needed) over the chicken, turn the heat down to medium/low and cover. Simmer the chicken while you make the couscous and flash cook the green beans. The marinade will make a nice thick sauce with the flour from the chicken. Easy! Enjoy!

Posted by ourgirl at 8:12 am

Nothing But Net

2011 Growing Season, Our Vineyard No Responses »
Sep 042011

Netting reminding me of beach waves.

After our impromptu August vacation in Topsail, NC, we came back to the vineyard to net the vineyard. In my mind, it was the easiest netting experience to date. Both Petes—WCPete and ECPete were there—cousin Tom, Ger, his father, the Gishboyz and my own boys. We stretch long swathes of netting over the tops of the vineyard rows and form a canopy over the whole vineyard block.  This practice is different than most netting practices, where the rows are individually netted. Ger likes the canopy netting as it allows us to work on the vines throughout the rest of the harvest season. Click here for the early history of our netting experiences from my older vineyard blog.

The process of netting the vineyard can by simply described. Stretch the netting out, along the vineyard block. Then, lift the netting up over the rows, resting the netting on the bicycle wheels and the high wire.  After that, carefully drag the netting across the vineyard rows and attach the netting to the previous net. Simple, yes? Although the netting is strong, the pulling and stretching can wear and tear at the netting. Ger’s Dad and I have become quite adept at netting repair.

I think there were 5-6 nets over the commercial Vidal Blanc block, and then side netting to completely encase the block.

I was grateful for the additional labor this year. It made the netting much easier. The proofing block was completed by the Petes and the Gishboyz during the week. We didn’t net the first harvest Petit Verdot and the Barbera. The red fruit was too much for the birds and they had stripped the vines too well to bother with this time consuming process. At harvest time, we’ll assess whether there is enough Petit Verdor and Barbera for the winery or whether we’ll keep the harvest for our personal bottling. The Vidal looked beautiful and was completely ignored by the birds, who preferred eating the red grape berries.

Posted by ourgirl at 7:22 am
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