Another Great Meal

Last week it pained me to try and pick a meal to make. So many recipes, so little time (and tummy space!). I finally whittled the Saturday night dinner down to Barbecued Chicken, Risotto, and Pesto and 4-Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms. All three recipes were keepers. I'll split them up between 3 posts.

So first we have the Barbecued Chicken. I've never made my own BBQ sauce before (unless you count the olde standby of ketchup/mustard/brown sugar) and had seen a recipe out there that was balsamic vinegar based. I had doubts, as I was worried it would taste like vinegar since that is the main ingredient. Turns out that vinegar taste boils off with cooking. The original recipe called for medium heat, but at that rate it was never going to boil/reduce. So I just used high heat for the duration. I kept checking on it to stir but that was really unnecessary--it didn't need any attention until it began reducing. Anyhoo - definitely a keeper! Although next time I'll spring for the boneless/skinless thighs instead of bone-in/skin-on, only for the sake of packaging the recipe. (Imagine trying to eat a barbecued chicken thigh with bone in a cubicle with dress clothes on--not too convenient!)

Barbecued Chicken

(Adapted from Mommy Cooks and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme)

4 cups balsamic vinegar
3 cups ketchup
1-1/3 cup brown sugar (or Splenda mix)
8T minced garlic (in a jar)
4T Worcestershire sauce
4T dijon mustard
Black pepper, to taste (if desired)

Combine all ingredients in a medium to large saucepan and stir to incorporate all. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat. Continue to boil mixture at medium to high heat until it reduces by about 1/3, or reduces to desired thickness--about 20-25 minutes.*

*I had this at a full rolling boil on high heat for at least 20 minutes. It did not seem like it was going to reduce, then all of a sudden it took off. It required very little stirring.

Note: This was a rather large batch. It will cover 2 large packages of chicken thighs or drummettes which breaks down to ~3-3lb bags of frozen chicken breasts (thawed!). So it caqn easily be halved.

Cover 4 standard cookie sheets with foil. Using tongs or a fork, dip each piece of chicken into the pan of sauce, then arrange on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-40 minutes (drummettes ~20, thighs 20-30, breasts 30-40).