Hot & Sweet Chicken

Hot & Sweet Chicken

I'm sharing a recipe from the archives today while we are busy enjoying house guests for a few days. I have made it many times. These photos from from last week.

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This is without a doubt the best of the easy recipes that I use. I just looked to see how many times I've posted it here before and I counted four times. But I haven't posted it in the last three years, so it's time to share it again for you newer readers. And to jog your memory if you've been here a while.

It was the first meal I made after my long stay at Mommy's. The cupboard was bare after my days away and when I went grocery shopping, chicken thighs were on sale. And I remembered this recipe. Daddy-O was late getting home from the livestock show on Saturday and I knew we wouldn't be going out anywhere. So this was the easiest meal I could make. And truthfully, it's one of the best.

HOT & SWEET CHICKEN

1 cup pineapple preserves (apricot or peach are good, too)

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 teaspoons minced garlic (I used the jar kind)

1-2 teaspoons Tabasco, or to taste (I used 1 tsp of Texas Pete)

1 package boneless, skinless chicken thighs (6-8 thighs)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, combine preserves, ketchup, soy sauce, garlic and Tabasco. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until preserves are melted.

Arrange thighs in a 9x13-inch pan, sprayed with PAM. (Or, line with foil for easier clean up.) Pour sauce over the chicken, turning to coat. Bake, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, or until done, spooning sauce over chicken while baking. 

If you use bone-in chicken pieces, the cooking time will be longer. Adjust as necessary. This is what I used this time—that's what was on sale—and I baked them for about 45-50 minutes. I did pull the skin off these thighs before baking.

This time I served this with Sesame Asian salad (a Dole chopped salad kit that I stirred together,) boil-in-the-bag brown rice and I toasted jalapeno cheddar bread I bought at the grocery store bakery. I am envious of those of you who can dial a number and have food show up at your door a little later. There is no "order your food and have it delivered" here in the country. Not even pizza. But this was nearly as easy.