BBQ-Gone-Wrong-Gone-Right

Next time I'll be sure to take pictures of the cooking process for a more visual representation of the recipe, but my decision to include this here was inspired retroactively. Just like Casual Hoya's Document Your Lunch feature, I'm doing a how-to intermittent Document My Dinner series. Tonight's featured dish is of my own creation, and evolved (mutated?) out of an intention to cook some plain ol' fashioned BBQ chicken:

BBQish Chicken

1 tsp.  hickory seasoning

1 tsp. chili powder

2 chicken thighs

1/3 of a cooking onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp. butter

1/2 of an apple, very thinly sliced (almost paper thin)

1/4 cup BBQ Sauce (I recommend Sweet Baby Ray's sauce, but pick your favorite)

Note: These are all approximations on amount of each ingredient used (other than the chicken thighs). I do everything pretty much to sight/taste.

1) Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add onion and cook until it begins to turn yellowish and caramelize. Stir every 3-4 minutes, should take somewhere around 20 minutes (To properly caramelize onions, see here). Do not let onions brown.

2) Meanwhile, combine hickory seasoning and chili powder, then rub onto chicken. Let sit until onion is done cooking.

3) Combine apple slices and BBQ sauce in a small bowl, and let sit until onion is done cooking.

4) Once onions have finished, remove from pan and set aside. Place chicken in pan, and cover with BBQ smothered apples. Cook over medium-low heat until chicken is cooked through, making sure to flip chicken (Cooking time depends on thickness of chicken--cut the thickest part to see if it is translucent or opaque. If it's fully white and opaque, you're good). The apples will be slightly browned and tender, and I found it best to keep them on top of the chicken for most of the cooking time, though some sat in the pan underneath.

5) Mix caramelized onions in with chicken and apples, and cook for another minute or two. Remove from pan, and serve hot.

Enjoy!