This New Year’s day, my husband made one of the most outstanding appetizers I have ever had. He made Tea-Smoked Chicken, and the guests at the party devoured them. Then recently I was gifted with some Gypsy Gold Dust, a Southwestern-style spice mix. When I opened it, that smoked chicken recipe popped into my head. But instead of using tea, I decided to use a really dark coffee. How could that not taste amazing with flavors like cayenne and paprika?
It was incredibly good. But the funniest part is this – the Super Bowl is this weekend and my husband inadvertently mimicked a football player when he tasted the coffee-smoked chicken. He yelled, “Yes!” and fist-bumped me without being remotely ironic. “These are fantastic! The coffee is amazing with the chicken and the spices!” (Of course, there may have been booze involved which made him more enthusiastic than usual.) However, the chicken couldn’t take all of the credit. I had some tomatoes that needed to be used, so I made a simple homemade taco sauce with them. And the sauce is so bright and spicy that the chicken wouldn’t have been the same without it.
It was pretty great little appetizer. So, you might consider making these for the big game – because everyone deserves a non-ironic fist bump.
Homemade Taco Sauce
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 medium onion
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1/3 of a dried ancho chili
- 1/3 of a dried chipotle chili
- ½ cup of cilantro (including stems)
- 3 tablespoons of white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of reserved cooking water from the re-hydrated peppers
- 1 teaspoon of cayenne
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- ½ teaspoon of oregano
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the ends off of the tomatoes, and peel and halve the onion. Place on a large rimmed sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper and mix well to ensure the vegetables are coated in the oil. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping once halfway through.
In the meantime, put the chipotle and ancho chili in a small bowl and cover them with water. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.
Remove the vegetables from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Pull the skins off of the tomatoes, and place them in a blender or food processor along with the onion, ancho chili, chipotle chili, cilantro, vinegar, chili water, cayenne, paprika, cumin and oregano. Blend until smooth.
Makes approximately 1 ½ cups of hot sauce.
Coffee-Smoked Chicken
- ¼ cup of a Southwestern spice mix (I used Intensity Academy’s “Gypsy Gold Rush”)
- 1 tablespoon of dark coffee, ground very coarsely (I used Vermont Coffee Company’s “Dark Blend”)
- ¼ cup of jasmine rice
- 1 ½ large chicken breasts, trimmed into half inch slices
The night before you want to make the chicken, put the chicken slices into a large resealable plastic bag and pour the spices into the bag. Work the bag with your hands so that all of the pieces have spices on them. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Pull the chicken out of the refrigerator a half an hour before you want to start cooking. (Turn on your kitchen fan or open the window. You are actually going to be smoking meat in your kitchen.) Then line the bottom of a large skillet or pot with a double layer of aluminum foil and place the tea and coffee in the bottom. Place a steamer on top, and layer the chicken on top without the pieces touching. Cover and cook for 15-30 minutes or until you are sure the chicken is done. (The pieces are too small to accurately use a meat thermometer. So you will have to gauge the chicken by whether or not it flakes easily when you put a fork in the largest piece.) Serve on lettuce pieces with homemade taco sauce and cheese.
