Chicken fingers with brown sugar and rum

Some nights it's about keeping things easy and looking through the cupboards to use what you've already got. I found myself with chicken that needed to be used up and thought I'd try a recipe from the hilarious parody cookbook Fifty Shades of Chicken someone had given me, riffing off of Fifty Shades of Grey fame. You can just imagine the suggestive poultry content that makes for an entertaining read.

Recipe

adapted from Fifty Shades of Chicken
1½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp chile powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp rum
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
freshly squeezed lemon juice, for drizzling

With a sharp knife, cut the breasts lengthwise into 1" wide fingers. In a medium bowl, Chile powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Add chicken fingers and mix well until thoroughly coated. Cover with bowl with plastic wrap and let marinate for an hour.

Preheat the broiler, and oil a large baking pan. In a small saucepan, bring the sugar, honey, and rum to a boil, stirring. Pour half the mixture over the chicken, tossing gently. Drizzle with oil.

Lay the fingers out on the pan without crowding, and broil, turning once, until the chicken is sticky all over and browned around the edges, 5 to 7 minutes. Brush the chicken with more of the sticky glaze for serving, then drizzle with lemon juice.

Musings

A few notes on preparation: This recipe originally called for bourbon, which I didn't have and so substituted with rum.

For a quick recipe thrown together at the last minute, this was super delicious! I'd also never used the broiler to completely cook chicken before--it's super intense but I liked to the speed of it. Fully cooked chicken in 5 min! I paired it with some homemade Mac and cheese (which can only ever enhance a meal). It was sticky and sweet and well-spiced, which complemented the creaminess of the Mac and cheese well. It also made good leftovers, so definitely one to include in the repertoire.