Thursday, July 16, 2009

Stovetop Barbecue Chicken


I love barbecued chicken when it's done well--yummy and spicy sweet on the outside, moist and delicious on the inside. We have a grill at home in Louisiana, but at the corporate apartment we live in while we're "on the road" in Georgia, we aren't allowed to have a grill on our balcony or porch. (They're screened in, so no mosquitoes, but that means no grill, either!)

My grandmother used to make the best oven barbecue chicken--it would fall off the bone it was so tender, and made the best sort of gravy that was delicious over rice. It's been so hot this summer, though, I've tried not to use the oven more than I just have to. So, I experimented a little and came up with this stove-top version.


I started off, as usual, with IQF (individually quick frozen) boneless skinless thighs. I think this would work with almost any kind of chicken, including bone-in pieces. I put these in my pan, sprinkled with an all-purpose seasoning blend ( I use Tony Cachere's) and some dried onion flakes.

Cover with water and bring to a good rolling boil, then cover and reduce heat to medium or medium high. Turn the pieces after a few minutes so that they cook evenly.



Uncover and let this continue to cook on a low bubble-more than a simmer, but less than a boil (!), until the chicken is cooked through and some of the water has cooked away.



Leaving the reduced water in the pan, I added a couple of splashes of Worcestershire Sauce, 2-3 Tablespoons of Country Bob's All-purpose sauce, and some barbecue sauce (I used Kraft Thick and Spicy Original), about 1/2 cup. I'm guessing, here, it would vary according to how much chicken you're cooking. If you think you have too much water left, you could always pour some of it off, but you need some water to blend the sauces and allow everything to cook together without scorching. The juices already there from the chicken cooking make it that much better. Bring this sauce to a low bubble, then cover and let everything just simmer together for a while, stirring occasionally.


About 10 minutes before you're ready to serve this, take the lid off and let it simmer uncovered, to thicken and reduce the sauce. By this point, the chicken should be literally falling apart. If you used bone-in pieces, you can probably fish around and pull out the bones.

My family loves this served with rice (see my post on making rice in the microwave), but I think it would make a good bbq sandwich on a bun, or even served over corn or Dorito-style chips with a little bit of cheese sprinkled on top.

I've made this several times with chicken, I'd love to try it with a good piece of boneless steak or a chuck roast.

What hot-weather reinvented dishes have you come up with?
This recipe is being linked to:

Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace
Check out the links for more recipes.


Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

21 comments:

  1. This sounds great...could do the same, cooking overnight in a crock pot, I'll bet. Thanks so much for the recipe...

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  2. This recipe look and sounds so yummy. My family like bbq. I think bj right and you could make this in a crock pot. Geri

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  3. This sounds very good. How can you not love barbecued chicken? Thanks for sharing with us. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  4. I agree, it would be good in the crock-pot--if I could remember to put it all in there in the mornings--I "invented" this one day when I needed a last minute dinner fix--too late for the crock-pot!

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  5. This would make a great addition to Crock Pot Wednesdays that I will begin hosting @ diningwithdebbie.blogspot.com on August 5. THERE WILL BE PRIZES:)

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  6. The chicken sounds really good. I wonder if you could make this in a crock pot. It might be a cooler version of cooking and not heat up the house. I know what you mean about not using the oven too much. I just looked at the thermostat and it said 117! (I think it is broken) Thanks for sharing!

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  7. Ooooo, This sounds wonderful. I have to try it..and also look over the other recipes. I think you cook the way I like to cook.. and I think I may join Foodie Friday..Hope your weekend is a most wonderful one.

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  8. Sounds fantastic! My mother used to do something similar with chicken in barbecue sauce left to cook in a SLOW oven while we were at church on Sundays. I was thinking about it the other day ... I bet your recipe would taste very similar --- gotta try it!

    Thanks for stopping by and leaving the nice comment ... and the helpful tip about Old English scratch cover. Hope you have a wonderful week!

    Bye for now,
    Bill

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  9. This looks really good! Do you know what's in the All Purpose Sauce? It's not something I can track down here so I thought I'd try to make my own version =)

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  10. Looks good! I actually have all of these ingredients. Thanks for joining TMTT this week.

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  11. Mub,the All Purpose Sauce looks similar to A-1 steak sauce, but is sweeeter. If you'll click on the label "Country Bob's" in the labels list on the right sidebar, I did a review of this, and their's a link to their website where you can order a bottle. Then you could taste it see if you could replicate something similar.

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  12. When you can't grill, stovetop recipes are great in the summer time. I bet this is great with rice.

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  13. okfound you through simply sweet home! i've been looking through your archives and you have a lot of wonderful recipes i'd like to try! thanks!

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  14. I want to quote your post in my blog. It can?
    And you et an account on Twitter?

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  15. Hi. I suspect this may be a boneheaded question, but as i read this, you took the frozen chicken and brought it to a boil, no separate thawing step. Is that right or is thawing just so obvious people don't have to ask

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  16. Sunil,
    You can certainly thaw the chicken first, which would cut down on the cooking time, but I usually just do it frozen--like when I forget to put something out to thaw to cook for supper--that's why I like to keep my freezer stocked with boneless skinless thighs--easy to cook straight from the freezer!

    Charlene

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  17. Just cooked this and added my own flavor great!

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  18. Just made this! Added minced garlic instead of powder and used famous daves sweet n zesty bbq sauce n added a touch of hott sauce. My husband LOVED it! Easy meal! Thanks!

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  19. So glad you enjoyed it--it's definitely a go-to for me--so easy to do!

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