Cookbook Club Results & Reminder #8: Three Recipes Following the Gai Yang Blueprint (Patreon)

Hi Cookbook Club Frienjis and welcome to grilling season!

Community Vibe Manager and Frienji-in-Chief Erin here with your monthly reminder to try this month’s recipe variations following the Gai Yang recipe blueprint.

The Report

39 members of the club have submitted feedback for these recipes and the photos in our Patreon chat are flying in! If you haven’t shared your pics or chatted with fellow Frienjis in there yet, you’re missin’ out!

Variation #3, Chile and Citrus-Marinated Chicken, is winning with the most feedback results by far, scoring nearly double the amount of results than either Variation #1, Jerk Chicken, or Variation #2, Garlic and Herb-Grilled Chicken, have received thus far.

Across the board, this month’s results have seen the lowest reports of struggling to source ingredients. Albeit, there is a large section of Frienjis without access to a grill at all—which is worth noting, too! For those that do have access to a grill, there has seemingly been a growing confidence or a renewed interest in cooking on the grill that has come with testing these recipes. As some Frienjis reported:

This was my first time grilling whole (albeit halved) chicken. Way easier than I thought! Will definitely try this again. — Dave

I have always been reluctant to grill a whole chicken but now I'm confident! — S. Lynn

The technique was extremely useful... I never thought of doing something simple (and with hindsight, obvious) to split the chicken. It made it easier to manipulate in the grill (I don’t have a huge grill) and it seemed to cook faster and more evenly. — Michael

Plating Up

The many different flavor profiles across these variations led you Frienjis to serve your chicken with some creative accoutrements! For the jerk chicken variation, we saw homemade smoked mushrooms; multiple rice pilafs; Jamaican slaw; and lots of grilled veg. For the garlic and herb-grilled variation, there were baked and roasted potatoes; even more rice pilafs; homemade croutons; and lots of beds of arugula to serve over. And finally for the beloved chile and citrus-marinated variation, there were many, many tortillas; charred onions, tomatoes, and peppers; fresh salsas; a gochujang potato salad; and even some additional skewers of shrimp on the side!

Show Us Your Dish!

Patrick (whose dish is seen above) was an early adopter of this month's recipe variations—they got started on the Gai Yang blueprint recipe before we even sent out the variations!

Gary reportedly cooked this to, quote: "The screams of a thousand angry beagles."

Bridget's before and after is a beautiful thing to behold!

Ziad is cooking up a storm this month outside of these recipe variations: They'll also be making smoked confit oxtails; grilling fresh sardines with lemon, olive oil, and a cacao chili crisp; and enjoying some fresh sea bass to top it all off.

Keep Cookin'

If these recipe variations inspired a new idea or flavor combination, you're always welcome to let us know using this survey! The creativity and dedication of this club is inspiring so much greatness in the kitchen, it can't be understated. Thank you for being along for the ride!

Thanks for continuing to cook with us, 

— Erin & The Cookbook Club Team