Grilled Chicken with Cherry Barbecue Sauce

Got this recipe from the food network show, Down Home with the Neelys. I just love that couple!!! They are just so cute and funny together...wish I could come over to their house for a meal ;-) What is better than BBQ sauce on chicken when it is on the grill??? I just love how the sugars in barbecue caramelize and make the chicken taste sweet. Also, using fresh citrus fruit juice kicks up the taste in the sauce from just ok to wOahKay!!! The recipe can be found here: Cherry BBQ Chicken Drumsticks .

Now to follow along...

Step 1: Rub your meat way ahead of time. The longer the rub sits, the more flavor will soak down into the chicken. Combine the rub ingredients as per the Neely's recipe...

The rub line up:

And rub that chicken down good.

If you have skin on your chicken, lift up the skin and get the rub down in there on the meat. I purchased ancho chile powder specially for this recipe (I've actually seen a lot of the food network cooks using it lately, so I figured I would use it for more than just this recipe, but if you don't have it or can't find it in the grocery store, just use regular chili powder.) The chicken needs to sit for at least an hour.

While you wait on the chicken go ahead and begin making the BBQ sauce.

Step 2: Add some olive oil to a pot on medium heat. Once it heats up, add a chopped onion and 2 chopped garlic cloves. (I prefer to hand chop...more on the garlic in a later post).

Cook down the onions until they are very limp and lifeless. No one wants to bite into barbecue sauce!!! While the onions are cooking go ahead and juice 2 oranges and 1/2 of a lemon.

I used a juicer, but you can just cut the fruit in half and squeeze with your hands. I just like using gadgets since typically I buy them on a whim ;-)

Set this aside for step 4.

Step 3: Add ancho chili powder and the tomato paste to the onion/garlic mixture. This is what I am now using thanks to all of the food network cooks using it as well:

They are probably paid to use these products that I've now switched to, so just call me a sucker!!! One of the reasons that I did decide to go ahead and buy the tomato paste in a tube (like tooth paste, get it, lol!) is because why should I open a can of tomato paste just to use 2 tbsp and throw the rest away??? I don't want an open can sitting in my fridge! I'd rather have a tube that has a cap on it in the fridge. So there you have it; the justification that I needed ;-)

Step 4: Once that cooks for a good minute, then add the last of the BBQ sauce ingredients (orange & lemon juice, frozen cherries, water, more salt & pepper).
Let that simmer for 30 minutes on low.

It should look like this...

Step 5: After it is finished simmering, throw it in a blender and puree it. Remember, no one likes to chew their barbecue sauce!!! You could use a food processor or we have the Magic Bullet. The Neely guy used one of those blenders that you just stick right in the pan, called an immersion blender. I thought it was pretty cool, but since I already splurged on the tomato paste, Kosher salt, and ancho chili powder...I decided I could live without this gadget ;( Well, for now.

Step 6: Fire up the grill when ready. Save 1 cup of the barbecue sauce for dipping and use the rest to baste the chicken before & during the grilling process :-)

Serve with your favorite veggies & mashed potatoes...yum-O!