Chicken with Barbecue Sauce

My boys catch a bus home from school, then I collect them from the bus stop and drive them home. On the car trip home, we usually chat about what happened at school, who they had lunch with, what games they played at lunchtime, that sort of thing. When they got in the car tonight, the conversation went like this:

Linus: "What's that smell?"
Joey: "Yeah, what is that smell?"
Me: "I can't smell anything. What does it smell like?"
Linus: "It smells like sauce."
Joey: "Yeah, that's it, like sauce."

I've been at home with a pot of simmering barbecue sauce on the stove and I smell like sauce. How was your day?



Chicken with Barbecue Sauce
slightly adapted from Food Network
Serves 4

1 1/2 cups ketchup
1 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon of your favourite chilli powder (I used ancho chilli powder because one of my sons doesn't like his food too spicy and ancho is more fruity than hot.)
1 x 4cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into 3 pieces
1 lemon, sliced into 1cm slices
1kg of chicken pieces, skin on, bone in  (I used 4 wings, 4 thighs and  4 drumsticks)
Sea salt flakes

Put the ketchup, vinegar  Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, light brown sugar, dark brown sugar, mustard powder, Dijon mustard and spices into a medium saucepan and stir. Bring it to boil over medium heat and add the ginger and lemon slices. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Fish out the ginger and lemon pieces and discard them.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Pop a rack in the centre of the oven and line a shallow-sided baking tray with foil. Pour half of the sauce into a jug for serving at the table.

Season the chicken pieces with salt and then dunk them into the sauce that's in the saucepan to completely cover them in sauce. Lay them on the baking tray skin-side-up in a single layer with space between the pieces.

Roast the chicken in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and turn the chicken over and return it to the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked through.

Turn the chicken back over so that the skin side is facing up again and brush with more of the reserved barbecue sauce. Turn the grill (broiler) on to medium high and grill (broil) the chicken until is caught here and there and slightly charred in spots.

Serve with extra barbecue sauce at the table.