Smoked Cocktails, Mocktails and Cognac Chicken!

 Cooking with a Champion: Cognac Cream Smothered Chicken & Smoked Cocktails

When it comes to cooking over fire, there’s a right way to BBQ—and that’s with FOGO! In this special episode of the FOGO Life, I had the pleasure of teaming up with a true champion, Myles "Standish Cocktails" Robinson. Myles is a two-time Visit Lauderdale Food & Wine Festival Bar Wars champion, and this time, he brought his mom’s incredible Cognac Cream Smothered Chicken recipe to the Big Green Egg.

We took this family classic and elevated it with the unbeatable flavor of FOGO All-Natural Eucalyptus Charcoal. First, we seasoned and grilled the chicken to perfection, locking in those smoky, fire-kissed flavors. Then, we braised it low and slow in a rich, velvety cognac cream sauce inside a Dutch oven, letting the BGE work its magic.

But no great meal is complete without the perfect drink pairing! Myles showed off his bartending prowess by crafting a Double Smoked Cognac Old Fashioned, infusing it with deep, smoky notes using FOGO Cherry Wood Chips. And since I don’t drink alcohol, he also prepared a refreshing Lavender Hugo Spritz MOCKtail—proving that smoke adds a whole new dimension to cocktails and mocktails alike.

Want to see how it all went down? Head over to the FOGO channel to watch the full video! Don’t forget to subscribe, hit that like button, and drop us a comment to let us know what you think.

How to BBQ the right way with FOGO? It starts with great ingredients, top-notch charcoal, and a passion for live-fire cooking.

Until next time—remember to get out and grill! We’ll see you next time on The FOGO Life.

Captain Ron and Myles Robinson… OUT!

Directions:

1. Begin by placing 2 FOGO all natural fire starters inside of a Blazaball and place it on the charcoal grate of your grill.  Use your grill torch to light the starters.  Once they are burning well, fill your grill with FOGO All Natural Eucalyptus Charcoal.  Set it to 225° and add a handful of FOGO Cherry wood smoking chips.  Set up the grill for indirect smoking.  Now simply place a try of water on the grate and let it cook for about 20 minutes.  Remove the water tray, strain it and fill ice cube trays with the water and place in the freezer until frozen.
2. Remove the indirect setup and set up the grill for direct grilling over medium high heat.
3. Lay the drumsticks on the cutting board of the BBQ Prep Tub.  Use your boning/filet knife to slice each drum down the bone, down to the bone.  Peel back the meat until the drumstick lays flat and is fully splayed open.  You should have a perfectly butterflied drumstick.  Repeat for the rest. 
4. Peel back the skin on the thighs without detaching the skin.  Now, sprinkle all of the chicken on both sides with a dusting of European Blend and the Rub-a-Dub.  Season the meat itself as well as on top of the skin on the thighs.
5. Place the chicken on the grill and grill it for just long enough to develop some char and get that skin crisped up a bit.  Do not cook the chicken through.  We are just par-cooking it at this time.  Remove from the grill, set aside and add a deflector and grate to make the grill indirect at 350°.
6. In the Dutch Oven, add the onions, mushrooms, oil, flour, European Blend, Rub-A-Dub and stir.  Now add the butter, Dijon, chicken, cognac, heavy cream, bay leaves and thyme.  Cover the pot and place on the grill for 45 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.
7. Once it is completed cooking, carefully remove the pot from the grill.  Serve the chicken over a bed of white rice and ladle plenty of the sauce over all of it.  Sit back and enjoy!

COCKTAIL RECIPE:

1. Place a small piece of aluminum foil on a heat resistant surface and put some FOGO Cherry wood chips on it.  Light the chips.  Once burning, place your cocktail glass over it and allow it to extinguish it and fill the glass with smoke.  Leave it like this until ready to use.
2. Place some smoked ice, the Bitters, Smoking Syrup, and cognac into a shaker and stir. (or shake)  Strain the mixture into the smoked glass from earlier.  Add some more smoked ice and the orange peel to the drink and enjoy.  Just remember to drink responsibly.