BBQ Chicken & Roasted New Potatoes
open pit BBQ sauce
I was feeling a little adventurous last night and made dinner without a set recipe. I read through a few for suggestions and ingredient ratios, but nothing stood out or I didn’t have all of the ingredients on hand. So, before I tell my tale, I have to tell you a little thing about barbecue sauce in this household. Basically, I love it and Steve almost hates it. More recently, he got wild and tried McDonald’s barbecue sauce and actually liked it. I was so surprised. Maybe even shocked. But, in general, he’s a hater and I’m a liker. So when I was growing up, my mom would buy Open Pit brand barbecue sauce. I disliked it a great deal. It wasn’t my idea of barbecue sauce. And one of the main ways I ingested the stuff was with chicken mcnuggets. Yeah, I put it in the same class as KC Masterpiece and Sweet Baby Rays. I used both last night so Steve could try the Open Pit brand. For some reason, it’s been in my thoughts as a positive thing. I think it happened after learning the basics of the types of BBQ that existed in different states like Tennessee, Georgia, Kansas..etc. Well, I’ve finally put the notion out of my mind that it’s not real barbecue sauce if it doesn’t taste like KC Masterpiece or Sweet Baby Ray’s - cause it is. It’s just different. Some have spicy rubs, sweet sauces, honey, and my latest interest, the sour’ee, vinegar’ee ones. So we had a little taste off and I’ll tell you later, our deep thoughts on the subject. Ha!
Okay, so here’s what I did. I took boneless chicken breasts and had Steve pound them out. He used wax paper and a medium sized frying pan to smack the crap out of them. Actually, he didn’t go too thin. Maybe 1/2″. I threw em in the oven with s & p. Well, they cooked a lot faster than I expected and so I smeared some barbecue sauce on top to slow down the cooking. And I took it out of the oven. I was crossing my fingers for this one. As a side, I made roasted red new potatoes that had been cut into big’ish pieces with the skin on. I shook the babies up in a plastic bag with extra virgin (as per usual) olive oil, fresh roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley, salt, pepper, and then I through onion slices on top. I also used the same sheet pan and the same ‘marinade’ for the cauliflower. I haven’t worked with fresh cauliflower much. I don’t know if I will again. The only type of dish that I think I’d like it in is like a cheesy, cream based sauce. I think I’ve had it in a spicy Indian dish before and liked it. Anyway, I tore the little florets off like an insane person. The bottoms aren’t evenly cut. I stirred up the potatoes once but didn’t touch the cauliflower. And?
sweet baby rays BBQ sauce
First of all, the contest. Sweet Baby Ray’s vs. Open Pit. Steve & I ultimately decided to give it to Sweet Baby Ray’s. It’s the type of sauce I’m most familiar with and so I was accustomed to it. It has a long sweet finish that’s sorta satisfying. Actually, it may be a little too sweet. The Open Pit. I was enjoying it until Steve pointed out that there was no finish to it at all. It was true. It started with sour and then it just disappeared except for a little heat. (Black pepper may be have responsible. I don’t know.) It was also a thinner sauce and orange’ee in color. Not a bad look, but not the familiar thick, brown sauce. So, there ya have it. That’s what we thought.
BBQ chicken, roasted red new potatoes & cauliflower
The roasted red new potatoes turned out pretty good. I was so happy that I added the sliced onions. I threw that on at the last moment. I would’ve liked for more of the pieces to have caramelized and I wouldn’t have even minded some charred pieces . But the simplicity of the dish and its flavor won me over. Oh, it also would’ve been nice if the potato pieces browned more so that it formed a crust. My potatoes had the occasional piece but for the most part, it was soft. I was so glad I stuck with my decision about not using powdered garlic. Sometimes I’m on the fence with that one. Prior to this recent streak, I only used it occasionally on pizza. If the pizza is really good, I don’t use any. If it’s eh to *dry heave* then the garlic powder may make an appearance should I decide not to suffer any more than I have to. (That was dramatic, yes?) Okay and finally, the cauliflower. It needed some salt, but it was cooked well. It wasn’t mushy (but I know some people prefer it that way) but it wasn’t hard. It held its shape and was tender on the inside. My fork went through it without too much of a problem.
So, there ya have it! A meal made up by me, cooked up by me and savagely eaten by me. The dinner was easy in the sense that I used two sheet pans and the oven only. (Well, the cutting board and stuff, too.) The red new potatoes were on one side of the sheet pan while the cauilfower was on the other. And then I had a separate one for the three pounded out chicken breasts. No messy pots & pans. Yey! Alrighty guys, take care and as always, Eat Something Good!