a new take on barbecue sauce

with the end of summer looming, i'm trying to get in all of my warm-weather favorites before fall starts to creep in. but something i've never loved is barbecue sauce - for some reason, the flavors have never appealed to me. with that in mind, i wanted to create a sauce that i could enjoy - but one that would still satisfy my barbecue sauce-loving husband. the solution: root beer!

this sauce is simple to make, and makes enough for several meals - it would taste fantastic on a burger too. the barbecue sauce recipe is taken from several different recipes i found, and the chicken recipe is from tyler florence's show on the food network. i adapted the brine marinade a bit and substituted my own sauce recipe, but i'm sure the original is worth trying as well.

you will need:

several chicken breasts (i used 3 so that i would have extra sauce, but this makes enough for at least 6)

for the brine marinade:

2 cups water

2 tbsp salt

1/4 cup light brown sugar

2 garlic cloves, minced or crushed

4 sprigs fresh thyme (or dried, if you can't find fresh)

for the barbecue sauce:

 1 cup root beer

1 cup ketchup (i used trader joe's because it's a bit sweeter than heinz)

1/2 cup orange juice

1 slice bacon, uncooked

4 tbsp worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp light brown sugar

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp molasses

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp fresh thyme

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste 

 

 

 combine all the ingredients for the brine in a small bowl.

place the chicken breasts into a large ziplock bag, and cover with the brine. seal and refrigerator for at least 15 minutes, or until you're ready to grill - i marinated mine for about 3 hours.

 

for the barbecue sauce, combine all the ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to a boil.

once boiling, turn the heat down and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. the sauce will reduce and thicken.

 

remove the bacon and keep on very low heat until you're ready to use on chicken. if you're just making the sauce, allow to cool and store in the refrigerator. the sauce is good for about 2 weeks.

for the chicken breasts, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. lightly grease a grill pan with a bit of oil, and place over medium heat. remove the chicken from the brine marinade and grill for about 10 minutes, flipping once.

 

remove the chicken breasts from the grill pan and place onto a lightly greased baking sheet. pop into the oven for 15 minutes, then remove and baste generously with the barbecue sauce.

don't worry about making a mess - i really don't think there's a non-messy way to cover chicken in this sauce...

put chicken into the oven again for 25 more minutes. during this time, take out to cover in sauce one more time, then replace.

remove chicken from the oven, and serve with extra sauce. i served my chicken with curly fries and a green bean medley - and i actually really loved the sauce. Cooking the chicken this way after marinated with the brine leaves it incredibly moist and full of flavor.

blueberry chicken

there's a restaurant in kittery, maine that my family loves to visit when we're in town for some outlet shopping called robert's maine grill. the menu is simple but delicious, and i've only ever had one dish that i was less than impressed by - a blueberry chicken specialty that even the waitress was a little bit unsure about. my husband was a good sport and wanted to try it anyway, but we were both hoping for something more interesting than what arrived at our table. the chicken was cooked perfectly, but the blueberry sauce was a bit bland. i really wanted some of the blueberry flavor to be infused in the chicken breast itself, but it seemed that the chicken had been cooked separately and simply been topped with sauce before serving.

while the dish at this restaurant wasn't particularly successful, the idea intrigued me, and last night i tried my hand at a variation of this dish. i wanted more overall flavor and to get the sweetness of fresh blueberries into the tender chicken breast.

you will need:

3-4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/4 butter

1 tsp white granulated sugar

1 tsbp lemon juice

1/2 tsp ground coriander

salt and pepper to taste

place chicken breasts into a casserole or baking dish and top with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, coriander, salt and pepper. cover and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour (i marinated mine for 5). 

preheat your oven to 350 degrees. place a medium skillet on high heat, and add chicken breasts skin-down, along with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar marinade. allow to cook for 4 minutes on each side. try not to move the chicken around too much - this will let it get a beautiful golden brown color to the skin.

place the chicken back into the dish, and add to the skillet the butter, sugar, and lemon juice. allow the butter and sugar to melt, then add the blueberries.

allow the blueberries to simmer with the rest of the ingredients for about 5 minutes. the sauce will darken and take on a beautiful violet tone from the berries.

once the sauce has thickened, spoon the sauce on top of the chicken breasts. put the chicken into the oven and cook uncovered for 30-35 minutes.

remove the chicken from the pan and place onto a greased or parchment paper-covered baking dish, and pop back into the oven for 5 additional minutes - this will give the skin a final crisping. in the meantime, scoop the sauce back into the skillet to thicken it up a bit more and keep warm while chicken is crisping.

plate and serve. i served ours with some green beans topped with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and it complimented the chicken nicely. the chicken had a great crispy skin but was still very moist inside, and allowing it to cook in and out of the blueberry sauce really brought out the flavors i was after.