Sweet and Spicy BBQ....

Normally on Tuesdays I will blog about what I made for Jeff to bring into the office for Wednesday treat day. Since during most of the morning and early evening the kitchen was unusable, it will be pushed back until Thursday. I'm making two things for them to make up for it though!

I had barely enough time to get dinner done tonight when I finally got control back in the kitchen. Hopefully tomorrow they will be done a little earlier. I made Honey Barbecued Chicken Breasts along with Golden Smashed Potatoes for dinner.

After simmering a variety of ingredients for the BBQ sauce, it is cooled and then most of it is used to marinate the chicken. While cooking, the reserved amount of sauce is used to baste. The result is a tangy, spicy and moist piece of chicken. The heat mainly comes from the Sriracha sauce so if you don't like it spicy you can reduce it some. Using half honey and half molasses gives a sweet yet rich depth of flavor. I can see using this sauce on all sorts of meats.

The smashed potatoes are a little different than your normal mashed potatoes. Mustard seeds are first toasted in olive oil to bring out their flavor. Maple syrup added to some milk lends a subtle sweetness and the turmeric gives a golden hue with a slight earthy tone. The milk mixure is then simmered down from 1 cup to 1/2 to enchance all the flavors before it is added to the tender potatoes. When I was younger, I would never eat any potatoes that had any sort of texture - if it was not smooth I would not go near them. Boy am I glad that my palate has changed a little, because these were very good!

Recipes
Golden Smashed Potatoes
Honey Barbecued Chicken Breasts