Alabama Backwoods BBQ Chicken, Take 2

I told you there was going to be a second take of this chicken. I want this chicken to as delicious as it was the first time I made it but I want it to be better than that -- I want it to have the fantastic appearance and, judging by Lynn's photos, superior texture.

To make what I thought would give the results I was hoping to achieve, I cut the sauce quantity by half of what I used the first time which is one quarter of the original sauce recipe.

Let's go.

Alabama Back Roads BBQ Chicken
adapted from Cook & Be Merry's Alabama BBQ Chicken

4 chicken leg quarters (aka Marylands)
2 tbsp peanut oil
Seasoning rub
Sauce

Seasoning Rub
3 tbsp light brown sugar – packed
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp Kosher or sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme

Sauce
1/2 c mayonnaise
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp prepared horseradish (purchased)
1 1/2 tsp Creole or whole grain Grey Poupon Country Dijon Mustard
1 1/2 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp Kosher or sea salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

I combined the seasoning rub mixture in a small bowl.

I cut the leg quarters from two chickens and rubbed them with peanut oil.

I covered the chicken leg quarters on both sides with the seasoning rub and let the chicken marinate in the refridgerator for 15 hours.

There was quite a bit of liquid in the bottom of the baking dish.

The chicken quarters were grilled on both sides on an indoor grill pan until nicely browned on both sides.

Last time, I placed the browned leg quarters directly on a baking sheet. This time they were transferred to a rack over a baking sheet.

While the chicken baked for about 25 minutes at 400°F, I prepared the BBQ sauce.

And then I drizzled the BBQ sauce over the baked chicken and returned the chicken to the oven for about another 25 minutes.

And then I piled the chicken onto a plate and selected one of the leg quarters to eat for dinner and had it with Roast Potatoes and Green Beans.

The chicken turned out just as fabulously as it did the first time and I was pleased that the chicken wasn't cooking in a pool of it's own fat. Hooray for the "cooling" rack! On the downside though, I realized an error: I didn't put the sauce on immediately after browning on the grill pan. Instead I put the sauce on half-way through the baking time. And that made the skin not quite what I was hoping. As a matter of fact, it was just about as goopy as it was the first time.

You know what this means, right? Yep, there will be a Take 3 and I think the only thing I'll do differently from this take is to put the sauce over the chicken immediately before baking and then bake the full length of time undisturbed.

I will achieve perfect chicken!

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