Bourbon Chicken

This recipe using a bourbon marinade that needs to rest with the chicken in the fridge for 24 hours, so plan accordingly.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (~8)
  • Marinade
    • 0.5 cup Brown sugar – packed
    • 4 oz Soy sauce
    • 3 oz Bourbon – don’t cheap out
    • 2 tsp dried Onion – 2 TBL fresh, diced fine
    • 1 tsp ground Ginger – 1 TBL fresh, minced
    • 0.5 tsp garlic powder – 2 tsp fresh, minced
  • Black pepper to taste

Process

  1. Prepare the marinade
    1. Mix all the ingredients together.
    2. Spread chicken out on a tray and generously salt and pepper both sides.
    3. Using a basting brush, work the marinade onto all exposed meat.
    4. Stack chicken in an air tight container and pour in the marinade.
    5. Place in fridge overnight, and every few hours stir/shake the container.
  2. Roasting
    1. Preheat oven to 325 F (300 F fan).
    2. Place chicken on foil lined baking tray leaving space between pieces.
    3. Retain marinade for basting.
    4. Bake uncovered for ~1.5 hrs, until internal temp is 145 F.
    5. Brush on marinade every 10 mins.

Note1 : Since the marinade was in contact with the raw chicken you have two options: 1) discard after basting or 2) put in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer to kill any raw meat bacteria and then use as a serving sauce. I think option 2 is best as you can drizzle your chicken with the sauce to further enhance the taste. Also, it improves plate appearance.

Note 3: This same process is used to grill pork or shrimp the only caveat is that if you are marinading shrimp, just soak for an hour rather then overnight. If grilling pork, you can use chops or a pork loin that you slice into steaks.