Chicken - Alabama Style BBQ

Cookscountry.com

http://www.cookscountry.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=3477&bdc=41724&Extcode=L1GN3AB00

While you might think barbecue means a sticky red sauce requiring lots of napkins, they do it a little different in northern Alabama. They eschew tomato altogether and slather a mayonnaise-based sauce on hickory-smoked chicken., We wanted to learn what went into the sauce, which was entirely different than what we were used to and completely addictive, and how to best prepare the chicken. Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

Smoking generally takes a long time, but the process can be expedited by cutting the chicken in half and cooking it in the middle of the grill sandwiched between piles of smoking coals topped with soaked hickory wood chips. The indirect heat renders the meat tender and hickory flavored within the hour.
The sauce is essentially mayonnaise thinned with vinegar and galvanized with black pepper, cayenne pepper, and jarred horseradish. A little sugar ties everything together.
Coat the chickens with the sauce twice: once when it is immediately removed from the grill and a second time right before serving. The hot chicken will absorb the sauce like a sponge.