Sauce for BBQ Chicken
- Thread starter m raschko
- Start date
K Kruger
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I'm not a big fan of tomato-based sauces for chicken--though an addition of tomato can be good. I much prefer fruit-based sauces with poultry--but I include fruit in tomato-based sauces that I make for red meats as the combo of smoke meat and fruit is too good to pass up, imo.
Here's a simple mango-chipotle sauce I like for chicken, and here's a pineapple-tamarind, two flavors that work very well with chicken. The latter sauce would need slight modification as, as written, it's designed for ribs--but this is easily done.
Yes, you could just cut the honey but if you prefer a tomato-based sauce I'd re-work it a bit to give it some depth but some lightness at the same time by changing a few things, adding fruit and meat flavors, ditching the bourbon, making the sweet more varied (multiple sweeteners can be better than a single one). Here's a thought:
Michael's Barbecue Sauce
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced finely or pressed
1/2 c minced onion
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 c low-salt chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes in juice
1 small can (7oz?) pineapple tidbits in juice
juice of half a lemon, divided
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
pinch ground allspice
pinch ground ginger
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground chipotle or 1-2 tsp mashed canned chipotle, to taste
1 tbs honey
1 tbs brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Melt the butter with the oil in a med pot over med-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, till the onion starts to brown in spots, about 5 min. Add the garlic, thyme, ginger and allspice and cook, stirring constantly, till the garlic is very fragrant but not starting to brown, about 1 min.
Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cook 2 min. Add the canned diced tomatoes and all of their juices and the canned pineapple with its juice. Squeeze about half the juice from the lemon half into the pot, reserving the half, then add the Dijon, honey, sugar and Worcestershire. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 min.
Puree the sauce with a handblender or in a conventional blender and return it to the pot. Add a little of the chipotle and bring back to a simmer. For a thicker consistency let the sauce reduce uncovered; for a thinner consistency add a little chicken stock. Adjust salt and add pepper to taste. Add more chipotle if desired. Add additional honey and/or sugar if desired. Squeeze a little of the remaining juice from the lemon half, a few drops at a time, till the sauce has some bright flavor notes. Serve.
Here's a simple mango-chipotle sauce I like for chicken, and here's a pineapple-tamarind, two flavors that work very well with chicken. The latter sauce would need slight modification as, as written, it's designed for ribs--but this is easily done.
Yes, you could just cut the honey but if you prefer a tomato-based sauce I'd re-work it a bit to give it some depth but some lightness at the same time by changing a few things, adding fruit and meat flavors, ditching the bourbon, making the sweet more varied (multiple sweeteners can be better than a single one). Here's a thought:
Michael's Barbecue Sauce
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced finely or pressed
1/2 c minced onion
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 c low-salt chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes in juice
1 small can (7oz?) pineapple tidbits in juice
juice of half a lemon, divided
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
pinch ground allspice
pinch ground ginger
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground chipotle or 1-2 tsp mashed canned chipotle, to taste
1 tbs honey
1 tbs brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Melt the butter with the oil in a med pot over med-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, till the onion starts to brown in spots, about 5 min. Add the garlic, thyme, ginger and allspice and cook, stirring constantly, till the garlic is very fragrant but not starting to brown, about 1 min.
Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cook 2 min. Add the canned diced tomatoes and all of their juices and the canned pineapple with its juice. Squeeze about half the juice from the lemon half into the pot, reserving the half, then add the Dijon, honey, sugar and Worcestershire. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 min.
Puree the sauce with a handblender or in a conventional blender and return it to the pot. Add a little of the chipotle and bring back to a simmer. For a thicker consistency let the sauce reduce uncovered; for a thinner consistency add a little chicken stock. Adjust salt and add pepper to taste. Add more chipotle if desired. Add additional honey and/or sugar if desired. Squeeze a little of the remaining juice from the lemon half, a few drops at a time, till the sauce has some bright flavor notes. Serve.