Monday, November 21, 2005

"Really" Lazy Indoor BBQ

Yesterday, I really wanted juicy barbequed chicken with blackened grill marks and cloying sauce clinging to the meat. However, I had nothing but frozen chicken hindquarters in my fridge and a cupboard full of non-dry rub spices, like cinnamon, curry powder, and star anise. Coming home late from work, I also didn't have the time to marinate or brine the chicken either.

What made matters worse, was that the weather was terrific barbecuing weather. Unfortunately, I live on the second story of a crowded apartment complex and have no desire to lug a heavy bag of charcoal briquets to the park without financial remuneration. My slothfulness is all-consuming. Needless to say, I also had no desire to clean the George Foreman grill or even walk to the barbeque take-out restaurant just five blocks away.

I decided to take the "semi-homemade" way out, and resort to using store-bought bottles of barbeque sauce and also using the range instead of the grill. Thus, the "homemade" part, was just me heating up the chicken.

I employed my "watch television while cooking" method, and put the cut chicken pieces in a non-stick pan, poured the sauce on top, and literally ignored the bubbling pan. About 15 minutes later, I returned from watching the syndicated episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, and was pleasantly surprised. The chicken was exactly what I had been yearning for--tender, juicy, and with a sweet and sticky sauce.

Hey, it worked! And I was satisfied with the outcome! Although America's Test Kitchen warned me of the dangers of stovetop barbeque chicken, I was happy with the results given that I put in minimal effort.

I am getting used to this semi-homemade type of cooking, and in the words of Martha Stewart, using premade store-bought ingredients for a hungry stomach can be a "good thing."

4 comments:

  1. Hi PE - That's some nice improvisation there!

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  2. (Hee hee!) Thanks Kirk! Let me know if you try it some time!

    ReplyDelete
  3. sandra lee is the devil!

    oh, and for the fellow foodie, you really should check out http://www.chowhound.com for its san francisco/la restaurants message board.

    happy eating.

    libby

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  4. Hey Libby! (If this is the Libby that I know from 3yrs ago, I hope things are going well! I thought a lot about you when making this site b/c I remember what an amazing cook you were... I also thought a lot about Rocco!) If this is not the Libby from 3yrs ago, welcome and I'm glad you visited!

    Thanks for the suggesting about Chowhound, I've checked out the site before, but will visit again on your recommendation.

    P.S. Does that mean I'm the devil too? :(

    ReplyDelete

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