Thursday, June 5, 2008

Chicken Rubbed 'til It Buzzes!

I'm fortunate to have many fantastic and creative friends who give me lots of input on the exciting things they do with honey. Queen of this group of friends is the amazing Paz Walton. Here are the details of her experiment last night--well-received by her children (ages 16, 15, and 8) and okayed by her gracious husband Yuri.

Ingredients
1 chicken (any pieces) in this case, Paz used thighs

Rub
3 tbsp coffee beans, ground fine
1.5-2 tbsp buckwheat honey
3-4 tbsps water to make a paste
dash of olive oil
dash of chile powder
dash of salt

Mix thoroughly so it's a nice paste. Rub all over the chicken and let rest in the fridge for an hour or so. Turn it over after half an hour.

Fry it at medium heat with a bit of olive oil. After the chicken is nicely browned, add a bit of water, then cover in order to cook thoroughly (within about 20 minutes).

Notes: Served last night with sweet potato fries. The flavour is full-bodied with that blackened tinge to it. The strong smell of the buckwheat (which bugs Paz) become secondary to the smell of the coffee but the smooth, earthy taste (which she loves) comes through powerfully and deliciously. The only complaint was the texture of the coffee grounds--Paz suggests grinding them really fine. Husband Yuri maintained that he doesn't need a buzz from his chicken--he gets enough from his morning coffee. The kids said "Right on, mom!" Actually, Paz was surprised that it was harder to sell the sweet potato fries to them than the chicken.

Paz's ideas: use the leftover bits of chicken to make a nice creamy gravy and serve it with rice. She also strongly suspects that it would be a delicious rub for pork.

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