May 29 2014

Ultimate Oven Fried BBQ Chicken Quarters

Name: Ultimate Oven Fried BBQ Chicken Quarters
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: bbq chicken
Ingredients: 4 chicken leg quarters *See notes on how to cook bone-in breasts and drum sticks; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 teaspoon ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 1/2 cups Sticky Thick Honey BBQ Sauce or Cowboy BBQ Sauce *note if using the honey bbq, add in 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke

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All the great flavors of BBQ chicken without firing up the grill!

So this past Memorial weekend we were at a cookout where they had a ton of food (great folks and great food). One of the foods there was grilled BBQ chicken. Sadly I didn’t get any because I already had a bunch on my plate and didn’t to be that person that stacks food up super high on a single plate. I figured if I was still hungry after I finished my plate I could always go back. Well the evening went on, good times ensued and I kind of forgot about that bbq chicken. Trust me, I was super bummed. So the next day that’s all I kept thinking about was how I was seriously craving it. HOWEVER there’s just one small problem. I STILL don’t have a damn bbq. Yes, if you’ve been a long time follower this has been the biggest argument Mr. Fantabulous and I have to this day. It’s one of those topics we no longer discuss – kind of like how some people are about politics or religion (again 2 topics I don’t discuss).

Now for those that are new to the TKW family let me give you a high level overview of the bbq debate in our house. I want one, he doesn’t. Now it’s not a matter of affording it but rather HE is a stubborn donkey (love you baby) and feels that HE can just make me one out of the 5,000 brick we have lying out behind the shed. Yes 5,000 brick (from the current remodeling job that was supposed to ‘only take 3 months honey’ that is going on 7 years now). Yeah, another sore spot. ANYWAY he said that he would build me an outdoor grill with the help of my brother (he is a masonry genius). Yeah.. that promise is um… 8 years old now? And every grill season the topic comes to light and another week long argument arises. I’m part German thus part stubborn. He’s Italian and EXTREMELY STUBBORN. LOL

Now Mr. Fantabulous must have been jonesin’ (where does that terminology come from? Anyone know?) for some more bbq chicken as he made a comment about how good it was and that he hadn’t had it in forever. I bite my tongue because the first thing I wanted to say was “WELL if you were so stubborn and we bought a BBQ instead of having to wait for pretty much the next century you COULD have it as often as you want you stubborn donkey” but I didn’t cause again Mama always said to pick your battles. And while I wanted one I didn’t need one. Seriously I could go out today and buy one but I took it as a challenge in the kitchen.

The challenge being create awesome bbq chicken that well isn’t made on the grill BUT had the same awesome flavor. One of the hardest components to recreate in an oven is that smokey flavor. Now this can be done 2 days – create your own oven smoker with soaked wood chips and other items (I’ll show you how in a future post) and liquid smoke. The wood chips are awesome BUT with my being asthmatic it does emit smoke indoors and if you don’t have a commercial exhaust fan, it can be bothersome. This round I opted for liquid smoke which I love. But be forewarned.. if you’ve never used it start off with a wee amount in your recipe as it is potent.

Now unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to make the chicken that day I was craving it due to my cutting the grass and forgetting to take my allergy pills and putting in my eye drops. By the time I was done 3 hours later my eyes were pretty much swollen shut, I couldn’t stop sneezing, sniffling or wheezing. I looked like I was in a cage fight with Mike Tyson and lost. Yeah we’re talking I was THAT sexy! LOL Now don’t comment how Mr. Fantabulous should have done it as he would in a heartbeat but while I do the land he does the weed whacking. 4-6 hours at a time of weed whacking. That honestly is much harder than my butt sitting on a tractor. Plus it’s my own fault for not taking my meds. If I take them then I’m fine with just slight sneezing and sniffling.
So the next day I had every intention of making bbq chicken BUT I had to cut the grass again on a lower setting but this time I took my meds so I wasn’t in allergy hell BUT…

yes, there’s a but. After another 3 hours on the tractor (6 hours total in 2 days) I felt like I was mule kicked in the back. Like seriously I could barely walk. Apparently it jarred something in my back and took He-Man to pop it back into place. However once it was back in place it was pretty much instantaneous that the pain disappeared. Thus I had to wait 3 days to make this. If you’ve ever had a craving and then had to wait 3 days to satisfy it you honestly think you’re in the worst hell ever. Well okay that may only apply if you’re a foodie but I’m pretty sure if you’re on my site and in the TKW family you’re a foodie.

Finally after getting my back taken care of I was able to stop at the butchers, pick up the most gorgeous chicken leg quarters and FINALLY make me some bbq chicken. I was going to go the route of how I make my oven fried wings (that are KILLER) but truthfully I didn’t want to wait. There are days when the stomach rules over time. The first rule of thumb when making chicken is to rinse with cold water and then pat dry. By having it dry allows the salt and spices to stick to it. Now normally when you grill chicken the skin tends to get crispy and charred. Since I wasn’t doing the wing method I had to figure out some way to help it along. I opted with a pan sear, skin-side down just to help crisp up the skin a bit.

Next since I knew I wanted to bake it I went with the baking pan lined with foil (trust me this is the best way as you almost never have to clean the pan) and place a cooling rack on top. By doing so it allows for the underside of the chicken to cook and crisp up plus it doesn’t stick to the foil when it bakes. I HATE when that happens as you tend to lose food that way.

I slathered on a bit of bbq sauce, baked it for about 20 minutes, added some more sauce and baked some more. At that point it was pretty much done but it didn’t have quite the bbq look. You know what I’m talking about… that char you get from the grill. To get this I slathered on the last bit of sauce and cranked up the oven for about 8-10 minutes. The sugars in the bbq sauce caramelized beautifully on the skin and allowed that smokey goodness from the liquid smoke to shine through. Now the real test was the taste. I mean you can make bbq chicken in the oven BUT the key is to get it to taste like outdoor from a real BBQ (THAT I DON’T STILL HAVE…grrr).

I plated our chicken to which I was initially met with a very puzzled look. It looks like grilled bbq chicken. That look immediately was followed with a snap of the neck to look outside onto our patio to see if I purchased a grill and was hiding it from him. Wait….hmmmm… could I do that? Buy a grill and hide it? I wonder. Oh I know! I bet if I bought one and hide it in a cover that looked like a vacuum sweeper he’d never see it as he has ZERO clue apparently where the sweeper is. LOL He’s so going to beat my butt for this post btw! Love you baby *wink*.

Now I *think* Mr. Fantabulous commented on his food while he ate but honestly after I took that first bite all I heard were angels singing and harps playing. I’m telling you what folks this is hands down the BEST BBQ chicken I have ever, EVER had. I mean I’m talking even better than bbq chicken made on a grill. You HAVE to make this!

And while you’re at it, send me a bbq! LOL