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.

Asian Sirloin of Beef

Asian Sirloin of Beef over Spinach

We made a staple dish in our household again recently, so it's worth noting here. I am a big fan of Jamie Oliver, as I find his recipes to be straightforward, delicious, and very hard to mess up. Between us and our neighbor buddies, we have made many things out of a variety of his cookbooks, and they are almost always infallibly terrific.

The specific recipe in question is "Sirloin of Beef with Bok Choy, Soy Sauce and Ginger" from page 51 of Happy Days with the Naked Chef. In summary, it's an asian sauced steak over a bed of bok choy. We serve it with plain white rice (although around here we serve practically anything and everything with white rice). It's a family favorite that everyone loves and is very simple and quick to make, making it a perfect weeknight dinner. We make the recipe pretty much by the book, generally using a grilled london broil but sometimes real steaks, and generally substituting garlic wilted spinach when good bok choy is not available. Quick, easy, and delicious. Over the last couple of years, it's probably been one of our most frequently made recipes.

Work - Very low. Mincing a chili pepper and grating some fresh ginger. That's about it.
Time - Under a half hour, with no prep-ahead needed. You need to grill/broil the beef and do a tiny bit of chopping and mixing for the sauce. The sauce can be made while the beef grills. The veggie can be wilted while the meat rests.
Cleanup - Very little, because you aren't using many items. If you can grill the meat outside (as is preferable), even better.
Rating - 8 out of 10 for taste and simplicity. A true go-to recipe.