We've been buying a whole chicken every time we've gone grocery shopping for the last couple of weeks because it's a great way to save money. The chicken lasts us half the week, and this last one I purchased for only $3.50! It's amazing and I love the feeling of saving money. Today I used the last bit of the chicken to make bbq chicken...it's not really barbecue, considering there wasn't any fire involved...liquid smoke came to the rescue instead :). I made a bunch of quick meals, like stews and pasta dishes, earlier in the week, but this is the first new thing I've made that's semi-exciting because I've never made my own bbq sauce. I've always seen various chefs on Food Network make their version of a good barbecue sauce, so I always made sure to pay attention to the ingredients they added. I don't know why, but barbecue sauce fascinates me because there are so many types of sauce, and a lot of them are pretty good. What I don't like is when anything I'm eating is drenched in sauce, to the point where I can't even taste the meat. So here is a recipe for a light barbecue sauce that's enough for about 1 1/2-2 cups cooked, shredded chicken:
2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
3 TBSP brown sugar
3/4 tsp liquid smoke
1 TBSP water
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 TBSP dried bell pepper
I mixed these ingredients in a small sauce pan with the chicken, then, while mixing, I let the flavors blend with the meat over a medium flame for about 7 minutes.
I also made a southern-tasting bell pepper/onion topping for the sandwich, here's what that consisted of:
1/2 red bell pepper sliced
1/3 small sweet onion also sliced
a pinch of salt
1/4 tsp lemon pepper
1/8-1/4 tsp garlic and herb spice
This recipe makes enough for about 4 people :)
Further reading: FDA safe food handling advice.