Chicken Kebabs with Hot Honey Glaze – 2021 Red Carpet Menu for Oscar®!
It’s the 2021 Red Carpet Menu for Oscar®! For Promising Young Woman, it’s Promising Drunk Chicken!
The theme this year is my version of a Spring Garden Party in honor of the Academy Awards being held in April. I don’t recall them being held this late and thought we should take advantage of that with dishes that are “set it and forget it”. I’m kicking it off with this wonderful appetizer!
With all the tumult in the world right now, we needed a “feel good” movie. Wait… what??? This isn’t? Well, it depends on your perspective. In a candy cane sweet world, Cassie plays her part admirably as she plots to avenge not only the rape of her friend, but the brutal way the crime was ignored… swept under the carpet… let go. And a wild revenge thriller can feel really good!
There are twists and turns with a great ending you do NOT see coming. Carey Mulligan shines in this role. Will she take home Oscar gold? Hmmmm… we’ll see.
But until then, let’s bask in the glow of this chicken appetizer. I seized on the “drunk” aspect immediately, although I can’t believe the word “woman/women” is in another title after last year’s “Little Women/Little WomHen” and that I am again making it a chicken dish! It’s as close as I’d get to a repeat, and this is nothing like that soup.
I wanted to have the perfect “shot” of flavor to imbibe the marinade – tequila. The fresh bright flavors mimic the pastel world of the movie which I then underscored with honey… but it had to bring the heat. And so I made the hot honey glaze.
You might have been expecting chicken tenders from my initial announcement but the more I thought about it, the more chicken chunks made sense. Cassie checks off her list of offenders one by one… chunk by chunk. And that’s how this should be eaten.
And it’s so easy to make! Using a ziplock bag makes cleanup almost non-existent. Everything in the bag!!! Wheeeee! I roll the bag up tight so the marinade and chicken stay fully enmeshed. And I love that carefree feeling of just grabbing it hours later, threading the skewers, and in a few minutes, it’s done. Although I consider my broiler an upside-down grill, you can certainly grill these outdoors.
It’s got the sweet but brings the heat! The chicken is juicy and flavorful. The glaze gives your tastebuds an afterglow that’ll make you clamor for the second bite. Yes!
Happy Oscars!
Annette
Chicken Kebabs with Hot Honey Glaze
Equipment
- Broiler Pan
- Ziplock bag
Ingredients
The Chicken:
- 1/4 cup tequila
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 limes, juiced and zested
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 lb chicken breast, skinless, cut into 1-2" cubes
The Glaze:
- 1/2 cup honey
- 4 tsp hot sauce of choice
Instructions
- Whisk tequila, oil, garlic, lime juice, lime zest, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, and cilantro in a ziplock bag.
- Add the chicken and coat well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours. Discard marinade. Let chicken come to room temperature.
- Heat honey for about 10 seconds in the microwave (or heat on the stove). Stir in hot sauce. Set aside.
- Thread 4-5 pieces of chicken per skewer. Place on foil-lined broiler pan. NOTE: Soak wooden skewers in water at least 30 minutes before using.
- Set oven rack to about 5-6" from the heat and turn broiler on high. Broil for 12-15 minutes, turning halfway through.
- Remove from heat and brush with hot honey glaze. Serve.
