Barbecued Chicken

Today was frustrating; one of our cats hit the button on my UPS and corrupted Windows so badly that the boot CD did not recognize that there was a preexisting XP install. So had to completely reload. Luckily I didn't lose any of my files.

To make myself feel better, I went to Hen House (their produce and meat departments are my happy place, I am rapidly coming to realize) and bought zucchini, mushrooms, a few chicken legs (99 cents a pound!), a bunch of scallions, and a bag of sun-dried tomatoes (huzzah!). Tonight we did barbecue chicken legs, from scratch, with stuffed zucchini and frozen rolls, which had been lurking in the freezer for months and avoiding being made because they had a minimum 90-minute rise time. They were pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.

The zucchinis were hollowed out and stuffed with a mix of scallion, mushroom, zucchini pulp, cooked down and thoroughly saturated with white wine, and then sprinkled with a Parmesan-asiago-Romano blend and baked for 15 minutes or so along with the chicken. Zucchini and mushroom go together much better than I had anticipated; this is a flavor combination I must be sure not to forget.

The chicken itself was prepared easily enough; brine in a mix of water, salt, brown sugar, thyme, and crushed garlic for at least 2 hours, refrigerated (we did ours for something like 4), then grill for 5 minutes per side and then bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, basting every 15 with sauce. The brine kept the chicken moist and juicy, and best of all, due to the brining which helped to fully defrost some perhaps not-completely-thawed chicken legs (it's HARD to microwave-defrost chicken on the bone!), I did NOT have my usual problem of undercooked meat. I'm fairly certain that incomplete defrosting is the problem there, cause I don't have problems when the meat doesn't hit the freezer in between the store and the plate.

Anyway, the best part in my opinion was the sauce. My three favorite things to do while cooking are slices, sautes, and sauces. Tossing a casserole or roast into the oven and walking away is not something I'm interested in; maybe I'm just not burnt out enough yet. In fact, I really don't like casseroles in general. While I'm all for mixing your mashed potatoes with the pile of corn next to it, there are some things like shepherd's pie that just... blah. I was never a fan of it growing up; aside from the fact that it was obvious "use up the leftovers" food, it just tasted very bland. My mom is actually a fairly conservative bland cook in general, and aside from her mom who loves baking, I don't know of anyone in my family besides me who enjoys cooking for the sake of COOKING, and not necessarily for family togetherness or any side benefits like that.

Oh man I'm full of tangents. Basically, if it involves standing over the stove stirring, or chopping like a madman, I'm all for it.

SO. Without further ado, here is the recipe for Fantastic BBQ Sauce (stolen shamelessly from Tyler Florence):

Ultimate Barbecue Sauce

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 slice bacon
1 bunch fresh thyme
1/2 cup onion, chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
Pepper to taste

Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Wrap bacon around bunch of thyme and fry in oil 3-4 minutes. Remove bacon bundle and discard. Add onion and garlic and cook 5 minutes, avoiding coloring. Add remaining ingredients, stir, and turn down heat. Let sit for 20 minutes so flavors meld. Makes around 3 cups.