I have been finding lots of good recipes through Twitter lately — you can follow me (@heydara) — I retweet anything delicious I come across. Kristen (@DineandDish) tweeted this recipe recently and I can sum up my take on this chicken in one sentence: It is the best chicken I have cooked this year.
Yes, I liked it that much. There is not much to say about the flavor other than what you can glean from the ingredients. The thighs stay juicy and moist, the spices are bold without being hot, and the honey tempered with vinegar caramelizes while it broils. My parents agreed it was excellent as well. Needless to say I will be making it again, next time for my in-laws!
Turn your broiler to high to preheat, setting your oven rack in the middle position.
In a small bowl, combine spices. In a larger bowl, toss trimmed chicken pieces with the olive oil. Sprinkle the spice mix over the chicken, and toss with your hands so the chicken is completely and evenly coated.
Place chicken pieces on a foil-lined baking pan, and place under the broiler for about 7 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook for another 5-7 minutes.
While the chicken is broiling, warm the honey and vinegar in your microwave for about 15 seconds. Stir to combine.
Generously brush chicken with the honey mixture, then slide it back in the oven for another 2-3 minutes. Flip the chicken again, and brush again with the remaining honey. Broil one last time for another 2-3 minutes, until the edges of the chicken darken and the meat is cooked all the way through.
Chicken tastes great served hot, or sliced cold over a salad the next day.
I have been mulling over Thanksgiving 2010, a holiday that went smoothly overall, but fell a little short of what I thought I could have put together. I have mentioned various elements that bugged me to friends, acknowledging that I am being a bit of a loon to have been bothered by things like my mismatched but at least color-coordinated (and slightly wrinkly) tablecloths. These things sound so silly coming out of my mouth that I am reluctant to repeat them here and give them more power over me. Still, I think it’s good to make notes of what did and didn’t work for next year. Plus I deeply missed my sister and her husband, who moved to Australia at the end of the summer and couldn’t be with us. Their absence made me think even more about grandparents no longer with us, and especially after our families went home Thanksgiving eve, I was preoccupied with missing people instead of being thankful for what was in front of me. What a mess I am!
The meal turned out well. I was seriously on the ball with prep beforehand, but then made a rookie error: I had no plan for reheating any of it, and had not thought to put my stove top and Crock-Pot into service on the day of the feast. Everything needed to go in the oven all at once to be warmed for the meal, so all my glee at being extra-prepared on Wednesday went out the window. I’ve written notes to myself in the past about including a cold item as a side (such as the Celeriac and Apple Salad I made in 2009), but didn’t do that this year and should have. I also failed to locate infrequently-used items before the holiday, so I was scrambling to find our gravy separator at the last minute (still can’t find it). I would guess none of our guests (we had 20 people in total) had any idea we were flustered, though, and that is fine with me.
My kids do not tend to like typical children’s menu food. They would never touch a hot dog (though they’d eat the bun), can’t stand the meatball part of spaghetti and, and get mad at the idea of grilled cheese. So tacos are definitely not a guaranteed success in this house. I didn’t grow up eating tacos, and J. doesn’t like ground meat that much, so it was never really on my radar to try them with the boys. However, the taco shells are just before the Annie’s mac and cheese in my grocery store, so I have on occasion made a mental note to try them for dinner one night. I finally did, subbing sauteed chicken breasts, sliced after cooking, for the ground meat.
The boys were skeptical at first. In fact, 10 minutes worth of skeptical while I finished cooking and they whined about how they hate tacos. (Excuse me, but you have never eaten a freakin’ taco!) But they were also hungry. Surprisingly, G. was the first to say he’d try a bite of the shell, and then he announced to his brother that it was, in fact, just like a tortilla chip as I’d promised. (Do you see what I’m dealing with? They didn’t want to try a TACO SHELL.) OK, sold on the chip-like part, at least. I put several bowls on the table: refried beans, chicken (which I had seasoned with a little pepper, thus requiring me to convince G. it would not be spicy even though it had black dots on it), chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes, and red pepper rings. G. saw a plain-ish looking piece of chicken and felt comfortable adding that to his taco. From there, it was a lovefest from my youngest: “Mom, the chicken adds so much flavor!” and “I love tacos! Make this every night!” A. was more restrained with his praise, but as he piled chicken and cilantro into his taco he also acknowledged that he was now a big taco fan.
And so, I think once again to what a wise friend once said to me: “If you never serve it, you have a 100% chance of them not eating it.” I get shot down in my cooking life enough that it doesn’t take much to make me beam. While I’m not going to be making them every night, tacos will make another appearance in my menu plan soon.
The original recipe I followed tonight is fussy about the preparation of this sauce. You marinate the chicken in some of it, then put the rest in a blender and reduce it. Brush the chicken with half the reduced sauce, bake, brush again with remainder of sauce, and serve. I had no time for any of that. I prepped my chicken and made the sauce at 9 o’clock this morning, keeping them separate until about 1 PM. I let the mix of chicken breasts and thighs marinate for about 3 hours, until I baked the whole shebang without any additional glazing while it cooked. My method worked fine, though without the extra sauce (from the baking pan) poured over the chicken, it was less flavorful than I’d hoped.
I bought the chipotle chile in adobo sauce this time because I’ve seen it included in my recipes lately. It comes in a small can, at my supermarket it was near the olives and sun dried tomatoes. I wasn’t impressed. I didn’t think the flavor was that different from any hot sauce, and so I would just rather use the sriracha I already have in the house instead.
This is a possible repeat. Next time I would marinate the chicken for longer, and then grill it. There’s enough honey in the mix that it should get nice and caramelized when cooked that way. I served it with Spanish rice (from a mix) and roasted cauliflower.
Honey, Chipotle, & Lime Baked Chicken
Adapted from Cooking Light, June 2010
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
4 limes, juiced (about 1/2 c. juice)
1/3 c. lower sodium soy sauce
1/4 c. honey
2 Tbsp. chipotle chile in adobo sauce, minced
Rinse, trim, and pat the chicken dry. Arrange pieces in a single layer in a large baking dish.
Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl, and then pour over the chicken. Marinate for an hour or more.
Preheat oven to 375° F. Turn each piece of chicken over once, so the down side is now up, and then put in the oven to bake, uncovered for about 45 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer chicken piece to a platter and serve the sauce in a gravy boat on the side.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more about me and CITK, and keep in touch:
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The boys were skeptical at first. In fact, 10 minutes worth of skeptical while I finished cooking and they whined about how they hate tacos. (Excuse me, but you have never eaten a freakin’ taco!) But they were also hungry. Surprisingly, G. was the first to say he’d try a bite of the shell, and then he announced to his brother that it was, in fact, just like a tortilla chip as I’d promised. (Do you see what I’m dealing with? They didn’t want to try a TACO SHELL.) 
OK, sold on the chip-like part, at least. I put several bowls on the table: refried beans, chicken (which I had seasoned with a little pepper, thus requiring me to convince G. it would not be spicy even though it had black dots on it), chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes, and red pepper rings. G. saw a plain-ish looking piece of chicken and felt comfortable adding that to his taco. From there, it was a lovefest from my youngest: “Mom, the chicken adds so much flavor!” and “I love tacos! Make this every night!” A. was more restrained with his praise, but as he piled chicken and cilantro into his taco he also acknowledged that he was now a big taco fan. 
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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