Bourbon Chicken with Sauce

Served over rice or beside slow cook grits makes a great meal option. I provide both a grilled and oven baked version. If you opt for grilling, I recommend a side of grilled Zucchini as well. While you could waste fine bourbon on this recipe, I recommend getting something cheap. like Jim Beam; its the alcohol that tenderizes the meat and the flavor profile is equal regardless of the bourbon. You can use breast or thigh meat, Chef’s choice, but I prefer thighs. Know that this is a 24 hour recipe so plan ahead.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs Chicken thighs or breasts – skinless and boneless
  • 4 oz Soy Sauce
  • 3 oz Bourbon + 1 oz for the Chef
  • 0.5 cup Brown sugar – packed
  • 1 Medium Onion – diced fine – or 2 TBL dried onion
  • 1 TBL fresh Ginger – finely grated – or 1 tsp dried ginger
  • 4 cloves Garlic – minced – or 0.5 tsp Garlic powder
  • 1 tsp Corn Starch – for sauce

Process

  1. Mise en Place – Measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
  2. Marinade the chicken
    • Mix the Soy sauce, bourbon, sugar onion, ginger and garlic.
    • Place chicken in an airtight container and cover with marinade.
    • Let soak overnight in fridge (~ 8 hrs), tossing every hour.
  3. Grilling Option
    • While you can grill the raw chicken, I find it turns out dry and chewy, so I like to Sous Vide first and finish on the grill.
      1. Divide chicken equally in Sous Vide bags, add equal parts marinade, and vacuum seal.
      2. Sous Vide chicken at 160 F for six hours.
      3. Remove chicken from Sous Vie bags and retain juice for sauce.
      4. Finish on grill, cooking each side in seared (chicken is already cooked).
  4. Baking Option
    1. Place chicken on baking try in oven preheated to 325 F.
    2. Bake 1.5 hours or until internal temp is 165 F.
    3. Use the marinade juice to baste repeatedly while baking.
  5. Make Sauce – Use the remaining marinade and cooking juice to make a sauce.
    • Roux-base: Sauce will be thick and non-translucent
      1. Bring marinade and cooking juice to a slow boil in a sauce pan.
      2. Melt 2 TBL butter in a separate sauce pan.
      3. Stir 2 TBL flour into butter. Let cook until lightly toasted.
      4. In multiple steps, add a small amount of juice into the Roux stirring each time until incorporated. During the first few cycles the roux will get very thick but don’t worry, just keep adding juice in stages while stirring (or whisking).
    • Corn Starch: Sauce will be semi-thick but relatively translucent
      1. Bring marinade and cooking juice to a slow boil in a sauce pan.
      2. Make a slurry using 1 tsp corn starch and 2 TBL water (can use juice).
      3. Whisk slurry into sauce pan and stir continually as sauce thickens.
      4. Salt and pepper to taste.

Note 1: In general use 1 TBL corn starch per cup of sauce for a gravy-like thickness. For this recipe I use a lighter mixture. Making the slurry prior to adding to sauce is important for minimizing lumps in your sauce.

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