Hello everyone. Welcome to another segment of #the-Lab. Today’s experiment is baked chicken cooked with some fresh spices as well as dried ones. I prepare meals like this when I’m hungry and not in the mood for cooking. Such meals are usually driven by what I’m craving, and this time I wanted chicken packed with flavor so I combined everything I normally like in my meats together to prepare this. It was delicious, but I was also very hungry so my opinion might be 20% biased. Let’s get to it then.
Ingredients
- 8 bone in skinless chicken thighs
- 1/3 cup bell pepper
- 1/3 cup roughly chopped red onion
- 1 Tbs minced ginger
- 2 Tbs minced garlic
- 3 Tbs green onions
- 1 tbs mustard powder
- 1 ½ tbs ground black pepper
- 1 Tbs paprika
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 2 Tbs soy sauce
- 1/4 cup bbq sauce
- 1 Tbs rice vinegar
If you try the recipe, feel free to make changes as you please. I cook based on what I’m craving as well as what I like in my food. Thus, I use more garlic and cook all my meats with ginger. I also often use lemon or vinegar. It all depends on what you like.
Recipe
Wash the chicken thoroughly. Use a paper towel to absorb the excess water. Lay the chicken on a chopping board and make light cuts or poke several holes using the tip of a knife (I do this so that more flavor is absorbed when the meat is cooking).
In a small bowl mix the paprika, ground black pepper and mustard powder.
In a large bowl mix the chicken, bell pepper, red onion, garlic, ginger, dried spices from step 2, soy sauce, bbq sauce, and olive oil with your hands making sure to rub the spices in gently. Place a parchment paper on a baking pan to prevent sticking and lay the pieces bone-bottom, and meaty side up. Once cooked, you
I prefer not to use aluminum foil coz meat tends to stick on the surface and it makes turning the pieces a nightmare sometimes.
Preheat the oven to 350 F (195 C) with a casserole dish in the bottom shelf ½ filled with water. Cook the chicken for about 45 to 60 minutes till cooked. Remember to turn them half way in after about 30 minutes.
I served this with mushed potatoes seasoned with salt, black pepper and dill weed, and mushed with unsalted butter and milk.
An alternative way of seasoning the chicken is by grinding all the fresh spices in a food processor to create a thick paste and mixing all the ingredients together, except the bbq sauce and green onions, then marinate the chicken overnight in a zip lock bag in the fridge.
The next day you can bake them in the a preheated oven. After 20-30 minutes of cooking, turn the meat and rub some bbq sauce, then let it cook for the remainder of the time.