Red, White and BBQ

Don’t you just love a good rivalry? Growing up we had some intense baseball rivalries in the family. Dad is a Cubs fan. Period. My sister and I, well naturally we grew up as Cub fans. Grandma, on the other hand, is a Cardinals fan. It was understood in our house that the Cards were the arch-enemy. I still remember my dad’s t-shirt, “I root for two teams. The Cubs and whoever plays the Cardinals.” To this day, family visits are still full of all kinds of Cubs/Cards gifts and lots of competitive banter. Cub Fans

Then there was my mom’s side of the family. Die hard White Sox fans. Grandpa got a few Sox fans out of his kids and grandkids, but not in our house (mom often remained silent on the subject). And my Dad doesn’t even regard the Sox as legit. This of course led to several lively discussions throughout the years. Then I married Mike…another die hard Cubs fan. (Lucky for him!) Mike jests with Mr. N and Miss A that you can’t like the Sox because they’re crooks (referring to the 1919 “Black Sox Scandal”). Yes, Cubs fans’ memories go back that far (insert Cubs’ World Series reference here). Little Fan

And despite one little scare when Mr. N was 3 or 4 and insisting he was a Cardinals fan, we have so far successfully raised two Cub fans. In fact, Miss A’s nightly bedtime song – “Take me out to the ballgame,” complete with Harry Caray’s “Let’s get some runs!” Take Me Out to the Ballgame

As serious as we take our baseball team affiliations, let’s face it, the rivalry is just downright fun! That’s why it worked out perfectly that Miss A’s pick for our state-side cooking adventure this week is Alabama. You see Bama has a rivalry of its own as well…and as you probably guessed, this one has to do with food – White BBQ sauce vs. Red BBQ sauce. We had never heard of a white BBQ sauce before, but apparently it’s all the rage in northern Alabama. So for today’s post we’re pitting White vs. Red in this BBQ battle. Red sauce

Starting with Bama’s take on the red sauce, we selected a recipe that hails from the Chicken and Egg festival in Moulton, Alabama. This sauce uses ketchup, cider, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, mustard and some seasonings. The ingredients are combined and cooked over medium heat. The chicken is then tossed in the sauce to coat. red sauce chicken

Finally, the chicken is placed in a baking dish and wrapped completely in foil to bake for 15 minutes at 500F and an hour and 15 minutes at 350F. Baking chicken

The end result is a fall-off-the-bone kind of chicken. Alabama Chicken Bake

Seriously – this stuff was amazingly tender and juicy. We know we’ll be baking chicken this way again. However, the flavors were a bit disappointing. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but I think we were hoping for something with a bit more tang. Mike would prefer tang with a kick, while I would prefer a tang with a sweet and spicy finish. Alabama chicken BBQ

Overall the ratings weren’t bad: Mike – 2 spoons, Kristy – 2-1/2 spoons, Mr. N – 3-1/2 spoons and Miss A – “2 or 90 spoons.” Mr. N was the biggest fan. Bama Red BBQ

As for the Alabama White BBQ Chicken, we used a recipe from The Neelys on The Food Network. We started by mixing together the sauce – a combination of mayo, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and seasonings. We reserved some in the fridge for dipping and used the rest to baste our chicken. basting chicken

The recipe couldn’t be simpler. Mix, baste, grill, eat. The finished product was a beautifully grilled and delicious BBQ chicken. I realize this is high praise which can perhaps be attributed to the fact that it was our first outdoor grilled meal since last summer. Still, it was very tasty chicken. Grilled chicken with White sauce

I was a bit nervous about the sauce for two reasons. One, I’m not being a big mayo fan. And two, it was incredibly watery. It had the consistency of a light salad dressing vs. a thick barbecue sauce, but unlike last time, my expectations were surpassed. It was tangy, sour and tasted fabulous on the grilled chicken. Alabama White Chicken

Ultimately the white BBQ won out over the red with our final votes of: Mike – 3 spoons (“Not 4 spoons because it’s still just chicken.”), Kristy – 4 spoons, Mr. N – 4 spoons and Miss A – 3 spoons. I do have to put a disclaimer on Mr. N’s 4 spoons though. You see we made these dishes on two different weekends and the voting was tallied at the time of the meal. However, even though Mr. N gave the white chicken 4 spoons, he did not like the dipping sauce and insists that he’d prefer the red version to the white even though his ratings don’t reflect as much. White BBQ

Now while Mike, Miss A and I will take the white over the red any day of the week, I am anxious to try that baking method out on my own BBQ sauce sometime because the chicken itself was truly memorable…unlike the White Sox. 😉

Alabama Red Sauce recipe: Alabama Red BBQ Chicken

Side dish courtesy of: Rufus’s Sweet Potato Fries and Oven Baked Fries

Alabama White Sauce recipe: White BBQ Chicken

Side dish courtesy of: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (I shamelessly admit that it’s a guilty pleasure!)

44 thoughts on “Red, White and BBQ”

  4. Purely.. Kay says:
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    Kirsty.. you know my family and chicken LOL. I love both sauces but sometimes when I want to dip I can be partial to white sauce myself. I think Mr. N will just have to get used to the color of the sauce first lol. But the chicken looks AMAZING! And The photos of the kids at the baseball game.. PRICELESS.

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  10. Bam's Kitchen (@bamskitchen) says:
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    Miss A is just adorable!!!! Those curls are just precious. Unfortunately, now that we are living in Asia, it is difficult to watch some of the things we used to watch like American baseball, football, etc. However, when I was a little girl I used to enjoy going to watch the tigers play and watching U of M football. Now I just catch the stats… I must say I like the BBQ chicken better too. I love when it gets seared slightly brown and toasty.

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  11. Charles says:
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    Awww, Miss A… so little! How old was she there? To be honest she looks about the size William is now, but I’m guessing she was more than 9 months then, and let’s face it – Little Will is unusually brutish for his age so far! 😀

    Both of those chicken dishes looks great – the first one especially. You know I’m not a massive chicken fan but I’ve got a real weakness for drumsticks! 😀

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    • Kristy says:
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      I think Miss A had just turned 2 in this picture. Amazing how much they change in such a short time. 🙂 Miss A has always been on the tiny side – excepting a little phase as a baby. I just love those chunky leg pictures! And we love drummies too. That’s what I’ve been using a lot lately. It goes over much better with the kids especially. 🙂

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  12. Nami | Just One Cookbook says:
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    Mr. N and Miss A’s photos make me feel like time flies so fast, and already miss the times when they were that age! I didn’t know there was a white bbq sauce. Always fun to read something new! We missed BBQing outside too, and it’s been wonderful that we got to eat some grilled meats (and a little break for me!). What a delicious meal!

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  13. Eva Taylor says:
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    Reading through the description and ultimately the recipe I would say that I had the same reservations, but I’m glad that it worked out in the end. The biggest question is: ‘would you make it again’. I love how crispy the chicken looks and I’m sure it’s succulent under that skin. Nothin’ wrong with KD (Kraft Dinner as we call it up here in Canada!). I’m not a huge fan of mayo either, but for some reason it does work well as a marinade; I remember making a mayo chicken (copious amounts of mayo slathered on raw chicken and baked) and it turned out rather good — I made the recipe for my Mom who due to her illness couldn’t cook anymore; having said that, I’ve never made it again, I guess it was pretty good and not really good.

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    • Kristy says:
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      LOL – that is always the question. I think we’d make the white chicken again. The baked chicken perhaps in the fall/winter but with a new sauce. 🙂

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      • Eva Taylor says:
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        That’s the feeling I got reading your post. This is another reason I love the blogging, documenting recipes that seem like a good idea at the time but not worth trying again. It’s as important as documenting the good ones.

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  16. ChgoJohn says:
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    It’s hard enough being a Cubs fan but having a family that includes both Sox and Cards fans is almost too much to bear. And I’ll admit my heart skipped a beat when I read that Mr N flirted with Cards fandom. Thank heavens he came back into the light.
    I”ve cooked ribs much like you cooked the chicken in red sauce. Never thought to try the method with chicken. Just need to find a sauce with a little kick. This was a fun post, Kristy. Any post containing shots of Wrigley Field is aces in my book. (BTW, Mike is right. The Sox are cheaters.)

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  17. Kelly @ Inspired Edibles says:
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    Ah, this is so much fun! I didn’t grow up with baseball but these rivalries cross all sports lines so I know well of what you speak ;-). As for your sauce rivalry, if it were between a cream base and a vinegar base (we have a few of those our way), the decision would be easier for me — I adore acid :). However, in this case, it would be really tough. I’m drawn to both lists of ingredients… sounds like the white might have won out taste wise in the end so now I’m tempted to give that one a try. On the other hand, I’m picturing a drizzle of hot wing sauce to cure the kick-less red 😉 (maybe a little sweet paprika for spicy/sweet?). Can’t believe how young looking your babes are in some of these photos!

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  18. hotlyspiced says:
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    I think it would be hard not to be swayed by bar-be-cuing outside for the first time in such a long time! It’s a shame the red chicken was lacking in flavour as it looks delicious. I do think I prefer the look of the grilled chicken. Makes me want to bbq too xx

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  22. sallybr says:
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    I hope this statement won’t get me banned from your site, but I never “got’ baseball…. sorry, sorry, sorry, profuse apologies! Give me American football anytime (just don’t tell my Brazilian friends), but baseball seems like one second of activity and a loooooooooong wait for something to happen. I guess I just don’t know the rules and have no idea what is going on with all that sliding and the chewing of gum.

    my vote would probably go for the white chicken, just because the skin seemed crispy and that’s the way I like it. I don’t care for mayo, but with your review about the sauce, I’d be more than willing to give it a try…

    great post!

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    • Kristy says:
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      LOL! Sally you could never be banished. 🙂 Truth be known, I watch baseball now much less than I used to, but I still enjoy going to the games. Mike on the other hand could live out his life watching baseball and nothing else and be perfectly happy. 🙂

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