Oven-Baked Apple BBQ Chicken

One of my most clearly used cookbooks is Cheap & Easy.
The pages are stained, falling out, and decorated with my notes. It was one of the first cookbooks I started using when I began cooking in recent years, and I still rely on many of the truly 'cheap and easy' recipes in it's pages for parties and dinners at home - including lasagna, meatloaf, olive tapenade, mojito seitan, brownies, granola, peach gingerbread, quiche, and even chai tea.

This week, we decided to pay homage to this well-worn old friend, and make a new recipe tonight that we haven't tried before (and a new version of one we have, tomorrow). So tonight, we made Oven-Baked Apple Barbecue Chicken. It turned out very good, though I feel like reducing the sauce a bit to thicken it would be an improvement. We used 1 lb of chicken thigh meat and cooked for just 35 minutes, then served it over some white rice. The chicken was moist, and the apples and onions, along with the sauce were a great pairing of flavors.


Oven-Baked Apple Barbecue Chicken
One 15 oz can diced tomatoes, with juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbspn chili powder
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken
1 large apple, peeled, cored and cut into large chunks
1 large onion, cut into wedges

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken, apple and onion. This is your homemade BBQ sauce. Place the chicken in a baking dish and scatter the apple and onion around it. Pour the sauce over the chicken, apple, and onion, and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the chicken is tender and cooked through.