Spicy BBQ Chicken

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Grilling season is here!!

The weather outside is perfect to hang out in the back yard with your family and grill up a nice spicy dish.

We have been hitting the pool and taking walks outside while observing all social distancing requirements.

But sometimes, it's just too hot. And too much hassle to deal with heat from the sun and the heat from dealing with a large grill.

So for this recipe, I pulled out my trusty Hamilton Beach indoor smokeless grill. Talk about convenience.

This spicy chicken does not call for any type of commercial BBQ sauce. We make our own marinade for it using powdered spices.

It sits in this marinade then we throw it on the grill.

Don't have any grill? Don't worry my friends, you can make this spicy bbq chicken in the oven instead.

Also no concern about this being "too spicy". If you don't know yet, I am not much of a pepper mouth.

This is a good balance between well seasoned and just enough spiciness.

Spicy BBQ chicken marinade

To make the spice mix we need a few powder spices. Some of them are things I usually have stocked in my pantry.

The one I had to look for a bit was the habanero powder.

I put the squash and the christophene in one nonreactive bowl and the chicken (breast and thighs) in another bowl and distribute most things half and a half to the bowls.

For the marinade you will need these dry rubs:

- Habanero powder. My local Walmart usually has some brand of habanero powder but they had been out so I had to resort to online order. I know FreshJax sells them so I ordered from them online and got to me pretty quickly.

A substitute for habanero powder can be chile powder or cayenne powder.

- Ground coriander
- Mustard powder
- Ground clove
- Ground turmeric
- Anise seed (fennel seeds are a good substitute)

Equipment and Tools

A grill

You do not have to use this grill. This recipe can be done on a traditional bbq grill or even baked in the oven.

I love using this Hamilton Beach smokeless indoor grill I got from Sears at the time (but can be found on Amazon).

It's perfect for those of us who don't have the yard space for a traditional grill.


Or even if you just don't want the hassle of heading outside to do your grilling.

It's smokeless and sears perfectly up to 450 degrees.

I love that the cover comes off easily and the grill plate also comes off. That means I can just dump them into the dishwasher or hand wash quickly.

It also has a large drip tray that catches all drips regardless of which part of the grill plate your meat is on

Skewers

I have bamboo skewers stocked up all the time

The bamboo material allows food to stick onto the skewers better. The worse thing is to have food swinging around while you're trying to get it cooked.

And with these, you have to turn a few times so you want to make sure they are not swinging around.

Thermometer

To get that perfectly cooked meat, to get the best results is to make sure you get the meat to the temp you want.

The worse thing is to bring food to the masses and it's undercooked or dry from being overcooked. So using a thermometer to get that meat to the perfect 175 degrees.

I use my thermoworks thermometer every time.

Bowls (preferably nonreactive)

Recipe tips

• Soak the skewers in water prior to loading on the meat helps them not to burn on the grill.
• For the christophene, cut them into the same disks and then cut those disks into fours. So you will have triangles for them. It fits better on the skewers and it's also easier to eat.
• Spray the grill while it's heating to help with sticking of the food unto the grill. The PAM grill spray works well.
• It's best to use non-reactive bowls to mix the meats and vegetables in. The turmeric and oil also leave a yellow stain. It washes out but to would be very hard in plastic containers.

What to pair this with

These can easily be paired with some nice yellow rice like my saffron rice. The flavor-filled rice will combat some of the heat.

Or if you want something lighter, a potato salad would be great, or a light mixed green salad.

More summertime recipes:

Pineapple chow
Fruit Punch
Mango passion fruit juice