#header-inner {background-position: center !important; width: 100% !important;}

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Bourbon BBQ Chicken

Pin It
In May I picked up a bottle of spicy BBQ sauce while eating at Rendezvous in Memphis. I couldn’t wait to come home and use it on some pulled pork. Instead, I came home and made this pulled pork with bourbon. The sauce just sat in the cabinet. Here I am, making BBQ sauce again, this time for chicken, and again with bourbon. Maybe if I add bourbon to the Rendezvous sauce I’ll be prompted to use it? In the meantime, it still patiently waits in my cabinet.

This BBQ sauce is a little more time-intensive than opening up a bottle and squeezing, but the extra labor of love is worth it! The ingredient list is long, but I’m guessing you have almost everything on hand (I did!). You can make the sauce up to a week ahead of time, saving it for a night when you want to throw chicken on the grill. My friend Maggie first made this recipe for us over Memorial Day weekend and we all went crazy for how moist the chicken was—a great match for the spicy sauce.
 Maggie used a whole chicken (in pieces) and marinated it in buttermilk overnight before grilling. I stuck to chicken breasts only since there was a sale on fresh chicken breasts…but next time I think I’ll use thighs or a whole chicken, as I think I preferred that even more. If you have the chance to enjoy the BBQ at Rendezvous, please do…and bring home some sauce! But until then, you can’t go wrong with this homemade spicy sauce!

One Year Ago: Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries (the #1 most popular recipe on this blog!)
Two Years Ago: Brownie Roll Out Cookies

Bourbon BBQ Chicken
from Food Network (Bobby Flay)

Ingredients:
-3-5 lbs chicken
-1 quart buttermilk
-chicken rub (use your favorite--I used a "kickin' chicken" rub)

for the sauce-
-2 tbsp canola oil
-1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
-3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
-1/2 cup bourbon, plus 2 tbsp
-1 cup ketchup
-1/3 cup water
-2 tbsp ancho chili powder
-1 tbsp paprika
-1 heaping tbsp Dijon mustard
-1 tbsp red wine vinegar
-1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
-1 canned chipotle chile in adobo, chopped
-2 tbsp brown sugar
-1 tbsp honey
-1 tbsp molasses

Directions:
1. To make the sauce, heat the oil over medium high heat in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the onion, cooking until soft (3-4 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup bourbon and cook until reduced.
2. Add the ketchup and the water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the remaining sauce ingredients (chili powder through molasses) and simmer until thickened (about 10 minutes). Stir occasionally.
3. Cool the sauce for 5 minutes before adding to a food processor and pureeing until smooth. Add the remaining 2 tbsp bourbon along with salt and pepper, to taste. Allow to cool for room temperature before covering and refrigerating (if making ahead of time) for up to 1 week.
4. Soak the chicken overnight in the buttermilk. Remove from buttermilk and season with rub, if desired. Grill chicken over medium heat until golden brown on both sides. Brush sauce liberally over chicken during the last 10 minutes of grilling.