'Bak Country Brew Pairing Recipe

This is the first of four recipes in our food and beer pairing series – a special collaboration to celebrate our new limited-edition brew! Check out our other pairing recipes: 

• Hawaiian Roll Sliders
• Polla a la Brassa (Whole Roasted Chicken)
• Roast Beef n’ Chedda Sandwiches 

COOLER. WATER. BEER. What more does one need in life?

What We’re excited to launch the ChillBak™ Pack 30 soft cooler backpack with our partner Oskar Blues. To celebrate, we’ve released a Limited Edition Oskar Blues X CamelBak ‘Bak Country Hazy Pale Ale. This crisp and refreshing pale ale is available in the Oskar Blues Longmont and Brevard taproom locations - while supplies last. 

Our collaboration with Oskar Blues Brewery was a no-brainer/easy fit. Our mission states closely align and both of our origins started on the backs of mountain bikers—one more literally than the other

CamelBak founder Michael Eidson and Oskar Blues founder Dale Katechis are forever linked by their desire to find a packaging solution that worked better than bottles. Michael assembled the first CamelBak from an IV bag and a sock. Certainly a strange contraption to be pinned to his bike jersey, but improved his performance during long days in the mountain-bike saddle. 

Oskar Blues became the first craft brewery to can beer. This gave Dale and his mountain biker crew the option of cracking a robust beer anywhere—going where the glass bottle could not.

Thinking outside the bottle led to lots of funny looks and finger pointing. Both ideas were undeniably odd, but they worked better than the status quo. It takes a lot of bushwhacking to blaze a new trail and nothing has stopped either of us from finding our way to the summit.

To fuel up for your weekend adventures, our friends over at Camp Chef created four tasty recipes that pair perfectly with the 'Bak Country brew. Cheers to that!

Nashville Hot Chicken 

Prep time:  25 minutes 

Cook Time: 15 minutes 

Serving: 6

Ingredients: 

• Nashville Hot Spice Rub
• 3 tbsp smoked paprika
• 3 tbsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp ground yellow mustard
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp ancho chili powder
• 1 tsp guajillo chili powder
• 1 tsp chipotle chili powder
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp cracked fennel seed
• 1 tsp marjoram 
• 1 tsp Mexican oregano
• 1 tsp habanero powder
• 1 tsp ghost pepper powder
• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 6 eggs, beaten
• Buns for the sandwiches or glazed donuts
• Mayonnaise 
• Dill pickles
• Oil or shortening for frying
• 4.5 cups all-purpose flour 
• Butter for toasting the buns

Instructions:

1. Start out by preparing the spice rub. Once that's finished, mix 1 tbsp of the rub for every 1.5 cups of flour. For this recipe that will be 4.5 cups of flour and 3 tbsp of the rub. Set the dredge aside in a bowl.

2. Beat 3 eggs with a small splash of water and set aside in another bowl. 

3. Turn your oil on and get the temperature up to 350 degrees. Once that’s rolling at temperature, toast the buns. If your butter is soft, you can spread it directly on the bun and place the bun on the flat top or pan to toast up. If your butter is cold, add it to a warm pan and place the bun on top of the melted butter. Either way works if the bun is toasting up.  

4. As the buns are toasting, take your untrimmed boneless skinless chicken thighs and place them in the flour dredge, be sure to coat them completely with the flour mixture. Tap off the excess and place the dredged chicken into the egg wash, ensuring it covers the flour completely. Now place the egged chicken into the flour again, recoating for that extra crispness. Tap off the excess again and place the chicken into the 350-degree oil, laying it away from you as to not splash yourself. Allow it to fry for 3-4 minutes until it reaches 165 degrees internally and remove it and allow it to rest on a rack. 

5. Lay out your toasted bun and spread a little mayonnaise over the top and bottom to keep the bun moist and juicy. Place 3-5 pickles on the bottom bun and lay the fried chicken over it. Here comes the good part: in a fresh bowl add about 1 tablespoon of the Nashville Hot spice mix, then adding a little at a time ladle about ¼ cup hot frying oil into the bowl of spices and mix it up. Use a basting brush to paint the hot oil over the fried chicken on the bun, allowing it to drip and run over the chicken and bottom bun. Add the top bun, crack open a ‘Bak Country Hazy Pale Ale, and enjoy an amazing chicken sandwich. 

Description:  

This is a super classic take on the Nashville Hot. The spice rub is perfectly on point bringing a helluva lot of heat while also being insanely balanced. The ingredients are a little original, but they allow the heat to balance itself in your mouth and around your tongue. No crazy cayenne burns in your throat and no tongue burning at the front of your mouth. It's super simple to execute once you have the spice mixed up and the chicken thighs have the perfect amount of juiciness and fat that makes the chicken even that much more delectable. 

Chef’s Notes:

Don't have the time or ingredients to mix the rub? Totally fine, grab your favorite Nashville Hot spice rub and substitute that out. 

Want to be a wildcard? Ditch the bun, pickles, and the mayo. Slice a glazed donut in half and place the inside down to toast. Once toasted, place the toasted side out and the glaze in. Stack the chicken in the middle, slather the hot oil on it and chop some kimchi up and use it as a slaw. 

Kimchi!? 

Yes, kimchi! The fermented umami-accented crunchy cabbage goes so perfectly with the hot spicy oil and the super sweet donut.

• Limited Edition 'Bak Country Brew Pairing Recipe | Hawaiian Roll Sliders
• Limited Edition 'Bak Country Brew Pairing Recipe | Beef n’ Chedda Sandwich
• Limited Edition 'Bak Country Brew Pairing Recipe | Pollo a la Brassa