Bourbon Chicken

Are you a sampler? As in... eating food samples when offered at stores, mall food courts and the like? If you are, then you may be familiar with the little samples of this dish passed out on tiny toothpicks at the mall. I'm referring to Bourbon Chicken and this particular version is a bit different, if not better! A rich marinade of soy sauce (or gluten free tamari), ground ginger, brown sugar, spices and bourbon give chicken a deep color and flavor. There's no cloyingly sweet sauce in this dish and you'll soon be passing up those samples for the dish made at home...

There's a popular outlet mall near where I live and folks from all over come to shop in droves. The food court was always packed with shoppers and vendors took advantage by passing out samples of their dishes to passing folks. My favorite sample was the Bourbon Chicken. But over the years, I found the taste to be too sweet as if chicken were just tossed in some bottled sauce and allowed to stay warm on a steam table. When I tried this recipe, I remembered those samples I enjoyed years ago but preferred how this tastes. It's a bonus knowing there's no sweet sauce involved either. This is great to prepare in advance and have ready to cook in a skillet after a long day. It takes no time at all to cook up and if you prefer, pound the chicken breasts thinner before marinating. You could even grill or bake the chicken if you didn't want to cook on the stovetop. I served this over a bed of mashed sweet potatoes and a side salad.

Bourbon Chicken
recipe adapted from AllRecipes

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 ounces soy sauce {or gluten free tamari}
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/8 cup bourbon
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

Place chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. In a small bowl combine the ginger, soy sauce/tamari, onion powder, sugar, bourbon and garlic powder. Mix together and pour mixture over chicken. Cover dish and place in refrigerator. Marinate overnight.

Remove chicken from the marinade and discard marinade.

In a skillet over medium high heat, add the oil. When hot, place the chicken and cook on both sides until browned and cooked through.