Friday, August 27, 2010

Quick & Easy Chicken with Homemade Barbecue Sauce by Rella

Today's guest author is Rella of the blog Penny Pinching Epicure, a wonderful allergen-friendly food blog. Rella will be sharing two of her favorite summer grill recipes with us this week!




Rella's Quick & Easy Chicken w/ Homemade BBQ Sauce

I love to barbeque; I've been spoiled this summer to be at my parents' house a lot, and they have an amazing charcoal grill. We made this recipe one hot summer evening, but now that summer is coming to a close, I'll be baking the chicken, or using a grill pan on my stove top.

The BBQ sauce recipe is partially based on my mom's sweet & sour meatball recipe, where she uses pineapple juice to sweeten the tomato sauce. Yes, you can just use a bottle of store-bought BBQ sauce, but this one is really quick to whip up, and (I think) it's much more delicious :). The secret weapon in this sauce is the allspice; most of your guests won't be able to discern what it is, but they will know that there's something special about your sauce!

Tip: Get dinner on the table faster by prepping the night before! Marinate the chicken in the BBQ sauce overnight, then just pop in the oven when you get home from work. This recipe also freezes very well, so make a double batch and you'll have dinner next week too!



Quick & Easy Chicken w/ Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp soy sauce (or use this soy-free alternative)
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients but chicken.
3. Rub BBQ sauce all over chicken, both over and under skin.
4. Bake uncovered in the oven for 35-45 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Serve with rice and a side of asparagus (featured tomorrow on GLG) for a tasty and healthy weeknight dinner!

Fun variations:
Add 1/2 tsp garam masala for an Indian-inspired BBQ sauce
Add a couple of shots of sriracha for a spicy wing sauce
Add some chopped fresh rosemary, thyme, or taragon for an earthy, herbaceous sauce



Rella of Penny Pinching Epicure has been dairy free for 4 years and gluten free for 1. Almost a year ago, she launched her blog as a way to show that you can make gourmet, delicious food and still maintain a pretty tight food budget, even with food allergies!
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