LITTLE ROCK — A recipe in a recent Susan Nicholson’s 7Day Menu Planner piqued my interest.
The recipe was for cocoa-crusted chicken and combined brown sugar, cocoa powder, smoked paprika, salt and ground red pepper.
The chicken, after a thorough coating in the mixture was then pan fried in margarine.
I was intrigued by the combination of chocolate and chicken but didn’t want to fool with trying to cook the chicken in a skillet.
The recipe also sounded abit sweet for my taste, so I played around with the seasoning, reducing the sugar and adding some chili powder.
I then baked the chicken breasts instead of pan cooking them. Wow.
The delightfully sweet-spicy chocolaty smoky rub did just the trick at perking up baked chicken breasts.
To complete the meal, I served the chicken with a side of steamed yellow squash and Arkansas-grown brown jasmine rice from Indian Bayou Milling Co. It made a wonderful spring dinner - not too heavy, yet still full of flavor and satisfying.
For more information about Indian Bayou Milling Co., visit indianbayoumillingco.com.
Cocoa-Chili Chicken Vegetable oil 1 tablespoon dark
unsweetened cocoa powder
(see note) 1 tablespoon brown sugar 3/4 teaspoon hot chili powder
OR chili seasoning Generous dash ground
coriander 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/2 teaspoon salt Generous pinch garlic powder 2 boneless skinless chicken
breasts
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with foil.
Coat foil with vegetable oil; set aside.
In small bowl, combine the cocoa, sugar, chili powder, coriander, paprika, salt and garlic powder and mix well.
Coat chicken with cocoa mixture and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees, about 25 minutes.
Makes 2 servings.
Note: I used Hershey’s Special Dark, it is a blend of natural and Dutch-process cocoa powders. Dutch process cocoa has been treated with an alkali to neutralize the natural acids in the cocoa. Dutchprocess or alkalized cocoa is not as bitter as natural cocoa.
Food, Pages 33 on 03/28/2012