Pollo a las Brasas y Frijoles Charros

I had originally planned on just making the Frijoles Charros (beans with bacon and roasted chiles) but I wasn't sure what to make with them since it's more a side dish than main dish so I looked through Authentic Mexican for another recipe that didn't look too time consuming to go with it. I came across the recipe for Pollo a las Brasas, Estilo Sinaloense (Grilled Chicken, Sinaloa Style). It actually wasn't too hard to find, it was actually suggested as a "perfect Match" in the beans recipe and it looked pretty simple so I went with it.

I started on the chicken first, making the orange juice marinade using fresh orange juice. I used my new juicer attachment for my KitchenAid Mixer. The recipe called for 1 1/3 Cups of juice and it took about 5 oranges to get that amount. I had a little leftover which I served over ice to Mark after I had a taste. I blended the juice with lots of garlic and some other spices in the new Blendtec and coated the chicken I quartered myself with my new cleaver. I decided to get a cleaver for butchering chickens because I didn't want to ruin my Shun knives. I got the cleaver at Bed Bath & Beyond for $45 minus 20% with the coupon I had. I guess I've been getting a lot of new kitchen gadgets lately. At least I am putting them to use!

While the chicken was marinating I got the beans soaking in water. I've been meaning to make some beans for a while. I even had a bag in my cabinet. However I had them so long that I'm pretty sure they were no longer good. I think the bag said 2006 on it. So I got a new bag of pinto beans to be on the safe side. I only ended up using half of the 2 lb bag and it made a lot. I started this stuff early cuz I knew it would take a few hours of soaking and cooking. There were a lot of tasty ingredients in these beans including roasted poblanos, roasted tomatoes, bacon, and pork shoulder.

I used my BBQ for the first time this year for the chicken. The recipe actually called for using a charcoal grill but I used my gas grill and it turned out fine except for burning the skin of the legs which I think Mark rather enjoyed. I thought the two dishes complimented each other well. I'll have to start making my own beans more often and not buy the canned stuff all the time.