Monday, June 3, 2013

Sweet Hot Mustard Chicken Thighs – Good to the Bone

I don’t make a lot of Indian food on this blog, but I do borrow a lot of techniques inspired by that cuisine. Things like toasting spices in fat for stews, marinating meat in yogurt, and slashing chicken down to the bone, as I did with these sweet, hot mustard thighs.

I know it’s a bit controversial, since some say you lose moisture, but any technique that's been practiced for a thousands years is okay by me. I think it helps permeate the chicken with the sweet, hot mustard marinade, as well as gives the final product some fairly cool “racing stripes.”

As I mention, if you insist on using boneless-skinless thighs, this will still work, but it is really is a recipe where the bone is key. You may have heard the expression, “the closer the bone, the sweeter the meat,” and it’s so true. There are many ingredients you can substitute for, but bones aren’t really one of them.

Imagine a chef boning out a rack of ribs before barbecuing them, so that they’re easier to eat? …actually, don’t imagine that, but I think you get the point. Anyway, I hope you try this very easy and delicious sweet, hot mustard chicken thigh recipe soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients:
(consider all the spices “to taste” and adjust to your liking)
8-10 chicken thighs
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground dry chipotle
cayenne to taste
1 onion sliced into rings
4 cloves minced garlic
vegetable oil for the pan and top of chicken

View the complete recipe