Mirj's Boozy Maple Chicken

Mirj's Note:

Necessity is the mother of invention. I have a collection of blended whisky in the house that my husband refuses to drink, single malt snob that he is. He claimed the stuff was only good for paint thinner or rust remover. Not so. With a little help from Toolie who sent me some maple syrup from Canada, I invented a chicken dish that made everyone happy all around.

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 2 roasting chickens , cut into serving pieces
• salt and pepper
• sweet paprika
• 1 cup Scotch whisky
• 1 cup maple syrup

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (or 200 degrees C).
2. Clean the chicken pieces and season them with the salt, pepper and paprika.
3. Place them skin side down in a roasting pan.
4. Mix the whisky and maple syrup.
5. Pour over the chicken.
6. At this point you can marinate the chicken overnight, but this is an optional step.
7. Place the chicken in the oven for 20 minutes, uncovered.
8. After 20 minutes, turn the pieces over, and roast for another 20 minutes.
9. Just a warning, when you open the oven door halfway through, be prepared to get tipsy on the fumes.
10. Enjoy!

Reviews

[blancpage]

Don't know if the reviewer will get this, but since I'm not a premium member I can't send messages (I can reply to them, just can't send them) so I'm posting here, in response to E-Eva's question about how to thicken the sauce to a glaze consistency. I don't know how much sauce is left after cooking, as I haven't tried this recipe yet (it's in my cookbook though), but I've found that depending on the amt of liquid you want to thicken usually a cornstarch/water slurry works great. In my experience, mixing 1 Tbsp of cold water with 1 Tbsp of cornstarch (until cornstarch is completely dissolved) to make a slurry, then whisking it into the liquid you want to thicken works well. Add in a little at a time so you don't over-thicken. You may need more or less of the slurry. A bit of white flour may work also. I know some people have used instant mashed potato flakes to thicken sauces too. Haven't tried that yet. Anyhow, as soon as I can afford whiskey, I'm going to try this! :D

[E-Eva]

This was extremly easy to make (one of the simplest chicken recipes I've made!) and it was very delicious. I did, however, find it VERY sweet. Not to say I didn't enjoy it, but I think that, in order to make it part of my normal repetoire of recipes, I'll have to cut back on the maple syrup a bit. Otherwise, it has a lovely, rich flavor. Any ideas on how I could thicken the sauce to make it more of a 'glaze'?

[twissis]

This is a great recipe, Mirj! I made a half recipe for 2 of us using 1 whole chicken I cut into pieces. This is so easy to fix & has a terrific outcome. The flavor combo is ideal with just the right balance of sweetness enhanced by the whiskey. We loved it! The next day as DH knawed on 1 piece he just could not bear to give up, he remarked it was even better after sitting overnite. I never got a chance to concur. The meager amt left disappeared somehow. Thx for sharing this great recipe w/us. Edited to Add: Forgot to say that I marinated the chicken 3 hrs b4 cooking & feel that prob improves an already great dish! Thx again.