Pulled Chicken

Good morning, lovely friends! Somehow, it’s Monday again. But that’s okay. We just came off a fabulous weekend with my sister Erica and her husband, I’m starting a yoga class tonight with my favorite teacher at Broadway Armory Park, I’m about to imbibe a steaming mug of mint tea, and I have exciting things to share with you this week–starting with this chicken.

What to say about this chicken?

It’s great. I made it on a whim. I was committed to bringing a dish to a women’s gathering at our church, and as I was browsing the incredible food blog that is Kayotic Kitchen, this chicken sandwich caught my eye. I’m so glad that Kay highlighted it in her Superbowl-friendly recipes post, because I might not have found it otherwise. It’s simple (not at all labor intensive, seriously), delicious, and I was asked for the recipe.

There’s no greater compliment than being asked for the recipe, in my book.

The sauce is richly complex, satisfying, the right amount of vinegary and sweet, and of course adjustable to each person’s individual taste. So make this for a party! It’s amazing.

I made a few changes–green pepper instead of red, ginger sauce for added sweetness, sriracha, more chicken (the ratio of sauce was a little high), and the results were delectable. I will now show you how it all went down!

 

Ingredients

(Serves 10-12)

7-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 large onion
2 TBS butter
1 bell pepper (red or green)
6-8 garlic cloves
1 serrano or jalapeño chili, seeds and membrane removed
1 cup ketchup
3 TBS sriracha
1 1/2 cups water
3 TBS brown sugar
2 TBS ginger syrup
1/2 cup apple cider or white wine vinegar
2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 squeeze fresh lemon juice
2 tsp salt, to taste
Tabasco, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Mince the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and chili.

Heat the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook for 15 minutes, until it’s starting to caramelize.

Add the bell pepper, garlic and chili and continue to cook for another 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are softened.

Season those veggies with salt and pepper as they cook.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients (except for the chicken).

Give the sauce a taste if you want, though the flavors will change and deepen when it cooks.

If you don’t have a certain ingredient (like ginger sauce), don’t sweat it–this is a flexible sauce. A forgiving sauce. A sauce that’s begging to be personalized.

Add the ketchup mixture to the pot with the veggies and bring ‘er to a boil.

Add the chicken breasts, lower the heat, cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes.

Don’t overcook the chicken, or it will dry out! Overcooked chicken is the worst, man, especially once you understand the full potential of tender, perfectly cooked fowl flesh.

When the chicken is done, remove it from the pot and set it aside to cool a little on a plate.

Turn the heat up to medium and simmer the sauce for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally so that it doesn’t burn to the bottom, until it’s very thick. Like dees!

And if you burn it a little (I certainly did–you can see the blackened chunks if you look closely), it only adds to the smokiness of the barbecue flavor.

Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Shred the chicken with two forks . . .

. . . and mix the chicken and sauce together.

My chicken went straight into this lovely plastic container, for transportation to our women’s ministry gathering.

Oh man, my mouth is watering.

Serve! On a plate, over rice, in a sandwich—you’ll love it.

The chicken is so amazingly tender and flavorful.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Pulled Chicken

Possession

I first read this book for a college course on the 20th century British novel, many years ago. I’ve read it at least 4 more times since then.

Where to even start?

Well, I’ll start with the obvious–I love this book. It gives me the chills. It intrigues, entrances, and enchants me.

The story is this: two academics–the serious, professionally floundering Roland and the detached and haughty Maud–make a discovery. The two Victorian poets that they study appear to have had a secret correspondence which scholars had never guessed at. As they start following the rabbit trail of one unfinished letter, more documents emerge and pieces of the story start falling into place. Gripped by this unfolding story, Roland and Maud start unearthing clues and traveling together, determined to follow this 19th century drama to its conclusion. They travel through England, to a crumbling old estate, to the coast, to France, and finally to a graveyard, driven by that wonderful motivator: plot!

The book is composed of straight-up narrative, old journals by a variety of authors, letters, and the work of these two Victorian poets, Randolph Ash and Christabel LaMotte. The myriad points of view make the story rich and compelling. One of the things that astounds me is how much of a voice these two poets have. It’s a testament to the amazing skills of A.S. Byatt that after reading the novel for the first time, I thought these two poets really existed. I thought Byatt was just reproducing large swaths of their work, but no–she made them up. And then wrote the most beautiful poetry in each of their distinct (and distinctly Victorian) styles.

This book is a romance embedded in a romance, a mystery, and an adventure. There is some sex, but nothing insane. It’s beautifully written, the characters are painfully imperfect and gloriously alive, passionate and creative. Seriously, this book will grip you in the gut and hang on to your heart until the very end. Nab it from your library or on you e-reader! And a cup of Irish breakfast tea (with a little milk and sugar) is the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon immersed in these pages.