What a treat these BBQ Chicken Thighs are with sweet, tangy Jezebel Sauce!
For BBQing thighs you definitely need skin on, bone in. You can choose not to eat the skin if you like but you need the skin to keep the thigh meat from drying out. And of course with the natural fat dripping off the thighs you are bound to get a bit of delicious char going.
You can taste the smokiness of the char even if you remove the skin after grilling.
Now to the Jezebel Sauce. I just discovered this classic Southern sauce. It is a tangy, fruity, sweet, mustard base sauce that is perfect for glazing a ham, pork or chicken.
Since it is sweet you want to only brush it on during the last 10 minutes of grilling or so. At that point your thighs should be almost done so you can reduce the heat to avoid burning the sauce. It doesn't take much to burn a sweet sauce so watch carefully!
I serve these thighs with this Grilled Potato Salad with Mustard Seed Vinaigrette. It is unusual but makes a perfect complement to the mustard based Jezebel Sauce on the chicken!
Wine Pairing for BBQ Chicken Thighs with Jezebel Sauce
Pairing with a sweet sauce can be a bit of a trick. The sweetness of the dish risks making the wine taste harsh. In this instance I would look for an off-dry Riesling, Torrontes or Gewurztraminer. An off-dry sparkling described as fruity would also be great! Red wine lovers may look for a Rosé sparkling.
A white that has lots of tropical or stone fruit references may work as well. Look for references to pineapple, lychee, stone fruit -peach, apricot etc.
BBQ Chicken Thighs with Jezebel Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs bone in, skin on for most flavour
- ½ cup Jezebel sauce can substitute Major Grey's Chutney or other fruity chutney
Instructions
- Brush grill lightly with oil if necessary. Heat BBQ grill to medium high.
- Spread thighs evenly out over the grill. Close the lid and allow thighs to cook several minutes. When you see smoke indicating the fat from the skin is dripping down into the fire open the lid and rearrange thighs so they don't burn. A slight char is what you are looking for.
- Turn thighs part way through. The skin on the thigh will release easily if they are ready to turn,
- Continue to grill until thighs reach internal temperature of 165°. This may take 25-30 minutes. During last 10 minutes brush the Jezebel sauce generously over the thighs first on one side. Allow that side to brown being careful not to burn. A slight char is fine. Turn the thighs and brush sauce on the other side. Allow that side to brown.
- Remove thighs from grill, cover loosely and allow them to rest about 5 minutes. Serve hot with more sauce on the side if desired. (Make sure the sauce is fresh and is not left over from the basting sauce dish.)
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