Heather's Adventures in Lesotho

I do not have dreams of being on Iron Chef or even just a serious foodie. In fact most days my culinary skills max out at boiling water or popping popcorn. However, I like to think that if I put my mind to it that I can pull off almost anything and follow a recipe. Last week my sister shared thoughts on having “house specialties” – go to recipes that you know how to do very well – on her blog. Of course this got me thinking about what my items might be. This is what I came up with:

• Beer can chicken: The first time I had beer can chicken was as a PCV when my friends Dave & Wendy made it on their Webber grill. Eventually another PCV figured out that you could make it in a potjie (a round, cast-iron, 3-legged pot similar to a dutch oven in the US) and this is the technique that I continue to use today. Mine is big enough to cook two chickens. The base for my rub is usually paprika or chili powder but then it is different every time depending on what other spices I have around to throw in. What I love about beer can chicken is that it’s pretty hard to screw up – just let it cook super long so that it’s done all the way through but you really can’t over cook it.
• Chili: Again, my key is making it in the potjie. Clearly I have something for cooking with coals.
• Beer bread: Another Peace Corps recipe (I swear that it’s only as I started writing this that I realized my go-to recipes come from Peace Corps …)  We one time had a celebration that we called “Beer-giving” where we made beer can chicken, beer bread, beer battered onion rings and, of course, drank beer. Recently I added a beer dip that goes with pretzels to my repetoire of beer recipes.
• Lemon cake: My go-to dessert recipe that is super easy given to me by a friend. Even when it doesn’t turn out lemony enough (like when I made it last weekend) it is still yummy.
• Cheesecake: I haven’t made this recipe in ages as I don’t have a hand mixer, spring form pan or the right ingredients for the crust (a mix of chocolate and regular graham crackers.) When I do have the right ingredients my (read: my friend Bunnie’s) cheesecake cannot be beat.