INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds Boneless Chicken Breasts, sliced 3/8 inch thick across the grain: (substitute thighs, legs and wings if desired)
1/2 cup Jim Beam Bourbon, Jack Daniels or Early Times Whiskey
1/2 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/2 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
2 teaspoons fresh squeezed Lemon Juice or bottled concentrate
2 large cloves of garlic minced fine
1/2 teaspoon, Dry Mustard
1/2 teaspoon Wild Bill’s Meat Rub
1/2 teaspoon Morton table salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns, (Tellicherry)
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon of cold water
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional) for additional heat
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger or fresh (optional) for a Chinese version
1/4 cup Kikkoman Less-Sodium soy sauce (optional) for a Chinese version

Combine all ingredients except the chicken breasts, sesame seeds and cornstarch in a medium sized sauce pot over high heat and bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.  Take note of the optional sauce ingredients.  Taste sauce and adjust any seasonings as needed.

While sauce is cooling to room temperature, sprinkle a light coating of Wild Bill’s Meat Rub on both sides of chicken.  After sauce has cooled, transfer to a non-reactive container adding sliced chicken pieces and marinate covered four hours or overnight in refrigerator.

Place chicken and marinade in a large skillet over medium/high heat bringing to a boil and reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 25 minutes; stirring occasionally until chicken has no pink remaining.  Whole chicken legs, thighs and wings will take much longer to cook tender; I prefer to debone the legs and thighs.

Add one tablespoon of cornstarch to one tablespoon of cold water; mix thoroughly and add to the chicken and sauce stirring to blend; simmer uncovered an additional 5 minutes until sauce thickens.

Serve over a bed of your favorite rice and add side dishes of your choice.  A good white or dark wine will complement this bourbon chicken.  Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.

YIELD: 4 servings

Click on below thumbnail sequence pixs for a larger screen view:

NOTES: Above Bourbon Chicken prepared on 08-21-13 with the Bourbon Sauce not real spicy but had just enough kick to it.  You can kick the heat up by adding crushed red pepper flakes and/or cayenne pepper if desired and add soy sauce and ginger to give it a Chinese twist, however the sauce is great as it is.  The earthy taste of the beets along with the broccoli and cheese complemented the Bourbon Chicken and yellow rice very well.  The Bourbon Sauce is a modification of my Anson County North Carolina "City Slicker" BBQ Sauce and it was outstanding.  My bride and I sopped up the extra sauce from our plates with the garlic bread.  Beautimous tasting stuff and if you don’t like the chicken, you can always drink the sauce….grin if you must!  It was tough adding that good Bourbon to the sauce but the smoky and charcoal flavor rendered from the Jim Bean Bourbon was off the chain!

You can easily substitute deboned chicken thighs and slice across the grain.  Legs, thighs and chicken wings in my humble opinion has more flavor than a chicken breast.  Mass Farm raised and produced chickens of today do not have the taste of the chickens we raised back in the 1950s through the 1960s because of their varied diet and they were allowed to free range around the home place.  Also, the chickens were not given all the growth hormones and antibiotics in their feed and water which I believe has attributed to some long term health issues; just my humble opinion again!  Farm raised chickens are much more moist and tender than the "Ole Yard Birds" that were free ranging but the flavor is not there!  You can take that statement to the Bank!

Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 08-21-13.