Roasted Chicken with Plum Chili Salsa

(Printable Recipe)

This fabulous chicken is saturated with plum marinade and served with spicy plum salsa so good you'll forget that salsa usually means chips and dip and look for other reasons to make this salsa, especially when plums are in season. It's hard to describe how good it tastes because there's really nothing to compare it to. I would say, think cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving without the bitter twang, but too many people don't love cranberry sauce. So forget that and just try this and find out for yourself. This is an Epicurious recipe first published in Gourmet magazine. Reviewers raved over the salsa and 100% said they would make it again. I have to agree.

First the marinade, since the chicken needs to rest in this for at least an hour, overnight is even better. Here's the marinade list:

4 large plums

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 Tbs Sesame Oil

1/4 c Soy Sauce

Juice of 1 Large Orange (1/2 Cup)

1/4 c White Wine Vinegar

3 Tbs Sugar

Fresh Ginger Root (about an inch)

1/2 tsp Dry Mustard

One Jalapeno Pepper, seeded and rough chopped (Wear rubber gloves!)

Pit and chop the plums, peel and chop about 1" of the Ginger Root, and measure 1 Tbs of the chopped Jalapeno.  Add these and all other ingredients to the food processor and pulse until liquefied. 

The recipe called for 8 chicken legs but I used boneless, skinless thighs. Chicken breasts would work as well, but thighs have more flavor and are more moist and worth a try if you haven't used them before. Whatever you use, pour the marinade over all and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight. Now, you can put these in a 450 oven to roast for about 30 minutes, with a spoonful or two of marinade over each piece of chicken, but I tried them two ways and thought they were much better in the slow cooker. You can get by without marinating or even thawing first if you just put the whole thing in the crockpot and set for 4 hrs on high, about 6 on low. They'll be falling apart when ready and very tasty. 

Serve with a side of Plum Chili Salsa.

Plum Chili Salsa

Now for that Fabulous Salsa!

4 Ripe Purple or Red Plums, diced

1/3 cup Red Onion, Minced

1/4 cup Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped
1 tsp minced fresh Jalapeno Pepper
1 Tbs fresh Lime Juice
2-4 tsp sugar, to taste

Stir together all in a bowl and allow the flavors to meld for several hours if possible before using. (Click here for an easy method for pitting and preparing the plums...and don't forget to wear rubber gloves when handling those Jalapenos!)

SummerFest at the Food Network website (FN Dish) is back! Once again, you'll find my foodie blogs on the Food Network along with other great food lovin' bloggers, offering up our best ideas for your Farmer's Market finds all summer long. Each week we'll be blogging together with the FN Dish to produce fabulous ways to enjoy your produce!  This week, it's plums, next week summer squash. Check out these delicious ideas:

Ingredients, Inc.: Pork, Plums and Rosemary Kabobs
Virtually Homemade: Grilled Plum Pizza With Goat Cheese
Cooking Channel: Best Plum Dessert Recipes
BGSK: Grandma Esther's Plum and Walnut Cake
Delicious Lean: Plum Delicious Pork Chops
Healthy Eats: 6 Ways to Cook With Plums
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Time for Plum Cobbler?
Thursday Night Dinner: Plum BBQ Chicken
From My Corner of Saratoga: Plum Upside Down Cake
Cooking With Elise: Vanilla Plum Tart
Sweet Life Bake: Plum Pineapple Margarita
And Love It Too: Plum Pickin' Pineapple Jam
FN Dish: Perfect Plum Recipes

 

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