Spicy Honey Barbecued Chicken

(with Honeyed Apple-Cabbage Slaw)

I knew I would have some time today to cook a nice dinner, and I wanted to do something with grilled/barbecued chicken, but didn't want to do the simple "thrown chicken on the grill and slather with store bought barbecue sauce at the end".

Trolling the Food Network website for ideas turned up two that looked great: a brined chicken with a homemade classic style ketchup/molasses/vinegar sauce (by Tyler Florence) and an asian themed spicy honey barbecued chicken (by Emeril Lagasse). Emeril's recipe also had a terrific looking slaw recipe, so I decided to do that one. The recipe is here.

Spicy Honey BBQ Chicken with Apple-Cabbage Slaw

The marinade (which also becomes a basting sauce and finishing sauce) is very asian in character, and consists of soy sauce, vinegar, honey, sriracha (hot sauce), sesame oil, garlic, ginger, etc... I marinated the chicken for 5 hours (bone-in, skin-on pieces of chunked up split breasts and thighs).

After marinating, the chicken goes on a medium grill for 10 minutes (skin up) then 5 minutes (skin down). While the chicken grills, the marinade is boiled in a sauce pan for that entire time. This both thickens it and also removes any danger from raw chicken having been marinating in it.

When the grill time is done, the chicken goes onto a sheet pan in a 350 degree oven to finish cooking (another 20 minutes or so). While in the oven, I basted the chicken twice with the boiled sauce.

Earlier in the day I made the slaw, which is cabbage, endive, carrot, onion and apple in a sauce made from mayonnaise, sour cream, honey and apple cider vinegar.

The final dish was chicken topped with the last of the sauce, the slaw, and simple green beans with olive oil and lemon pepper.

The result - A fantastic meal. The chicken was moist, tender and packed with flavor. The slaw was cool and crunchy and a perfect counterpoint to the chicken. The green beans were...a green veg.

I'd rate this about an 8.5 out of 10 for flavor. It wasn't expensive to make, as almost everything other than the chicken was a basic pantry ingredient. It was simple to make, with the only consideration being that the chicken definitely benefits from a long marinade. Highly recommended.