The inspiration comes from the Public Broadcasting System bbq cooking guru Steven Raichlen. Chicken marinated with hot peppers, rum and then smoked with sugar cane sounded unique and a lot of fun. Smoking with sugar cane will be a Mad Meat Genius first. One of the vendors at the farmers market I manage sells fresh sugar cane. It comes in a 4 foot stalk and is inexpensive. (free if you are the friends with the vendor).I have some exotic hot peppers and limes growing in the yard that will be perfect for this recipe I will have to go to the store for some rum. The chicken is marinated eight to 12 hours in a spicy brine. There will be a link at the bottom for the original recipe.
Ingredients
- 6 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 bunch of chives or 4 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise
- 2 to 6 habanero chiles,thinly sliced
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 3 branches of thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice berries
- 1 cup fresh lime juice
- 1 cup white rum
- 1 cup vegetable oil
Combine all these ingredients and let chicken marinated for 8-12 hours. I used chicken thighs. Cut sugar cane stalk into strips that will fit on your bbq grate. I also cut several sugar cane chunks for smoking. We used our Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. The charcoal fire with sugar cane chunks was started. The grate was covered with a sugar cane trivet. The chicken was placed on this trivet. The remaining marinade was strained and boiled for three minutes. This mixture was brushed over the chicken every 15 minutes for 2 hours. After 2 hours the chicken reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees and was browned from the smoke. It looked tasty. Let's give it a try.
This was a fun cooking experience. The chicken was cooked to juicy perfection. The rum and lime juice was a prevalent flavor. It did have a slight warmth from the peppers. There was a smoke presence but had a neutral flavor. I could not identify a sweetness or unique flavor. It was a welcome component in the overall balance. This recipe is a keeper. It is a little involved but worth the effort. Steven Raichlen is an inspiration and bbq hero in my book.
Buccaneer Chicken
recipe by Steven Raichlen
3 comments:
Sounds great. I've had chicken grilled over a sugarcane fire in India. I wonder if it tastes the same? No sugarcane around here though...
Three Dogs BBQ, The rum and lime flavor was prevalent and the sugar cane smoke gave a neutral type of smoke flavor. I could sent you some sugar cane if you are really interested.
Thanks for the offer Chilebrown. I am going into town tomorrow. If I can't find any, I'll let you know.
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