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Cornell Chicken Barbecue Sauce

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With the barbecue season upon us don’t forget that antibiotic- and hormone-free chickens are available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market.

Several farm vendors at the market have whole chickens and/or pre-cut chicken. The chicken is always available frozen, but if the chickens have been processed recently you may be able to get fresh chicken.

One of the great advantages of shopping at a farmers market is that you can talk with the farmers about how their chickens are raised, including their feed and whether or not they are given access to fresh pasture.

The small chickens at the market are ideal for barbecuing. Traditionally when we think of barbecue sauce, a tomato-based sauce comes to mind.

An optional sauce you may want to consider is the Cornell Chicken Barbecue Sauce developed in 1949 by Bob Baker, a retired poultry science professor at Cornell University. Back then, chicken was not as popular as it is today, so he developed the sauce with the help of his wife to increase the sale of chickens and profitability of chicken farmers. If you’ve had barbecue at Bakers’ Chicken Coop at the New York State Fair, you’ve had the Cornell Chicken Barbecue sauce. Once you try it, it may become your favorite.

Today’s recipe is from the “Farmers’ Market Favorite Recipes” cookbook available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, Impressions of Saratoga on Broadway and at the Cornell Cooperative Extension office.

CORNELL CHICKEN BARBECUE SAUCE

1 egg*

1 cup vegetable or canola oil

2 cups cider vinegar

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon poultry seasoning

1 teaspoon black pepper

Beat the egg, then gradually beat in the oil. Add the other ingredients and stir. Store the sauce in a glass jar in the refrigerator for no more than two weeks. This recipe makes enough sauce to barbecue ten chicken halves*.

Grill the chicken over the direct heat of a moderate gas flame or charcoal that has burned down to glowing embers. Turn the chicken halves every 5 to 10 minutes, basting the chicken with the Cornell Chicken Barbecue Sauce during the last 15-30 minutes of grilling. Total cooking time over a charcoal fire is about one hour, depending on the amount of heat and the size of the chicken halves. Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. Poultry should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Per Serving: 110 calories; 11 g fat (1.5 g sat); 10 mg cholesterol; 0 g carbohydrate; 0 g protein; 0 g fiber; 1050 mg sodium.

Ingredients marked with an asterisk (*) are available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market on High Rock Avenue, open from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. For more information about food and nutrition, contact Diane Whitten, nutrition educator, at Cornell Cooperative Extension at 885-8995 or e-mail dwhitten@cornell.edu.