The Story
One delicious way to kick off your Memorial Day celebration is by popping a cold one in honor of the man who has helped make barbecued chicken one of America’s favorite picnic foods. Cornell University professor, Robert Baker, is the creator of the famous Cornell Barbecue Chicken Sauce, the recipe that is often referred to as “State Fair Chicken.” This simple and tasty sauce can be used as a fabulous 2-hour marinade or for basting chicken on the grill. The Cornell Barbecue Sauce isn’t the only iconic recipe to come from Professor Baker. He is also the inventor of more than 40 other recipes including chicken-and-turkey hot dogs and the world-famous chicken nugget (McDonald’s generally gets the credit for inventing the chicken nuggets, but Baker published his chicken nugget recipe in the 1950’s, while McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets recipe was patented in 1979). Another creation that probably helped land Baker in the Poultry Hall of Fame (yes, there is one!) was his revolutionary method of binding breading to chicken, which is used in hundreds of food applications today. In the book, “The Lexicon of Real American Food,” it says that Robert Baker’s goal in life was to get people to eat more chicken. Mission accomplished – especially this weekend!
| Servings |
- 4 lbs chicken pieces (legs, thighs, or breasts, can use up to 5 lbs)
- 1 egg
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 2 tsp poultry seasoning (or use Jan's homemade version)
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp ground sage
- 1 tbsp ground thyme
- 1 tbsp ground marjoram
- 1 tsp ground rosemary
- 1 tsp celery salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
Ingredients
Homemade Basic Poultry Seasoning
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- In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the egg until frothy. Add oil and blend together until thickened and bright yellow in color (about 2 minutes). Add cider vinegar, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper, blending well. At this point, you can use the sauce as a marinade or as a baste. If using as a marinade, place chicken pieces in a resealable plastic bag or a glass baking dish. Pour the sauce over the chicken and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight. When ready to cook, preheat and spray the grill with vegetable oil. If using sauce as a baste, brush sauce liberally over fresh chicken and grill on one side for 6 minutes, or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked (chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 165ºF). Discard the remaining basting sauce.
- Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container.
