Pomegranate Vinegar

I know it is citrus season when Blood Orange beauties start appearing in my supermarket…..along with Pomelos, Cara-Cara Oranges, Little Cuties, Tangerines, Grapefruit…..all packed full of Vitamin C for the dark days of Winter.

My citrus love affair continues in this post. I have been making salads with Pomelo, upside-down cakes with grapefruit, chocolates studded with candied orange peel, citrus salad dressings and today a deep-red-brown Blood Orange BBQ sauce laced with Bourbon and Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce for the heat.

Not a heavy, ketchup based BBQ sauce but rather a lighter, more liquid sauce brushed on chicken before and during the roasting process. The results? Crisp skin, moist meat and lots of good sopping juices in the bottom of the pan.

Lordy mercy that color is just stunning! .

Cooked down to thicken before brushing over the chicken.

Any chicken will do…whole, fryer pieces, leg quarters or bone-in legs and thighs. I purchased the chicken I used here through my CSA “Fresh Harvest” (Nashville area). Organic all the way. I believe this BBQ sauce would be equally delicious on pork.

Blood Orange and Bourbon Chipotle BBQ Roasted Chicken

Time: 1hr 30mins
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Ingredients for BBQ Sauce:

1 cup blood orange juice
zest of one blood orange
2-4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped (with some sauce)
1/3 cup pomegranate vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar or honey
sea salt & black pepper
1/4 cup bourbon whiskey
2 Tbsp butter

Directions for BBQ Sauce:

Put all in ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 30 minutes until somewhat reduced. Stir often. Remove from heat and let cool. This BBQ sauce will keep chilled for up to 2 weeks.

Ingredients for Roasted Chicken:

2 to 3 chicken pieces for each person – 8 to 12 pieces or the equivalent as in chicken quarters or cut-up fryer pieces

Directions for BBQ Roasted Chicken:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Rinse chicken pieces (leg quarters, half chickens, legs, thighs, cut up fryer pieces) and pat dry.
Place chicken pieces, skin side up, in a shallow baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
Brush chicken pieces with BBQ sauce. Sauce is not thick so apply a few coats. Place in oven and roast for 45 minutes, basting with BBQ sauce every 15 minutes. Chicken will be crusty on the outside and juicy on the inside. Chicken juices should run clear. Serve chicken with good crusty bread for sopping pan juices and a side of cole slaw or rice.

Teresa Blackburn www.teresablackburnfoodstyling.com http://www.foodonfifth.com

“Everything I do, I do on the principle of Russian borscht. You can throw everything into it – beets, carrots, cabbage, onions, everything you want. What’s important is the result, the taste of the borscht.” Quote by: Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russian poet.

Ingredients to make a pot of heart & body warming Borscht to ward off the Polar Vortex.

2 lbs. baby red potatoes, cut in half

3 lbs. red beets, peeled & cut into chunks

3 shallots or 1 small onion, chopped

Fresh Thyme

1/4 cup olive oil, kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

10 cups chicken stock/broth (divided)

1 generous tbsp Pomegranate Vinegar (from Trader Joe’s)

Serve with: a dollop of sour cream & additional thyme, warm crusty bread

(Adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe for Ukrainian Borscht.)

Instructions:

1. Place red potatoes, beets, shallots & a few sprigs of thyme on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Sprinkle overall with a drizzle of olive oil, salt & black pepper. Roast vegetables in a 400 degree pre-heated oven for about 25-30 minutes.

2. Remove woody thyme stems from baking sheet & scrape all the roasted vegetables into a large soup pot. Add 8 cups of the chicken broth. Place pot over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes partially covered. If more liquid is needed then add a cup of water while cooking. Remove pan from heat & use a potato masher to “smash” the beets & potatoes together. Leave soup/borscht chunky. Add the 2 additional cups of chicken broth, reheat right before serving. Dollop with sour cream & sprinkle with additional thyme leaves.