As June 30th draws closer, we’re sharing some of our favorite entries from the Scrumptious Spring Sweepstakes. Stay tuned for the big announcement of who will be our grand prize winner on June 30th! In the meantime, enjoy this staff-favorite entry. 
Katie Cossette – Chickity Chinese Chicken
“You have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin” – This recipe is great for spring and summer. The ingredients are light and crisp but the flavor is “Big like LeAnn Rimes”. A little kick from the Sriracha Seasoning; but caramelizes beautifully due to the sugars in the marinade. Apricots are not used as often as they should be in dishes and really represent spring to me. “Like Snickers guaranteed to satisfy”
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Apricot Preserves
1T Worcestershire Sauce
1T Soy Sauce
1T Brown Sugar
2T Spicy Brown Mustard
1/2 cup Mirin or Sherry
1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
2 minced Green Onions
2T minced Fresh Ginger (or 1t dry ginger)
1 bird (approx 5lbs)
4T Sriracha Seasoning
1 can of beer (malt flavors go best with Asian food)
Wood chips if ya feelin’ fancy
MOP:
1. Get yourself a pot, put it on the stove, and bring the first 7 ingredients to a boil… Then slow ‘er down to a simmer and ignore that for maybe an hour or two…should look syrupy and thicker like a BBQ sauce. (hint: throw in more fresh ginger or spicy chilis if you want to kick it up)
2. Now grab a hold of that chickity chicken, pop it’s wings over what we call shoulders so they are tucked back and not wobblin all about like a Barenaked Lady. You may want to take a towel and dry the bird off- raw meat will caramelize better during cooking if it’s not soaking wet (just ask Julia Child about that dry meat).
3. Take that amazing Sriracha seasoning and rub it all over that bird… really massage it in there. Let the bird hang out in her new do for an hour at room temperature.
4. So at this point your sauce should be syrupy delicious and your chicken dressed for success. You probably should have turned on the grill at step 1, but whatever it’s on now. Turn it down to a medium-low setting. Throw the wood chips in the flame if you like that kind of thing or not I don’t care.
5. Crack open that tasty malt beverage and dump 1/2 of it out (or drink it it’s 5:00 somewhere) and shove the can up the chicken’s lady part. Your chicken should be able to stand up straight using the can as kind of a tri-pod support system.
6. On the coolest, most indirect heat part of your grill is where your violated chicken needs to hang out for about 2 1/2 hours or until it reaches 165 degrees.
7. Every once in a while slap some of that apricot syrup you made earlier all over the chicken. Probably should do that every 10-20 minutes. Try to use all that syrup while your chickity is cookin’- you can keep the extra syrup for a dipping sauce but you got to heat it back up to a boil before eating it (you were just rubbing it on a raw chicken and probably double dipping– gotta cook out the germs)
8. You know the chicken is done when you take a meat thermometer and stick it in the thickest part (usually the leg- dark meat takes longer to cook). The thermometer should read 155 degrees at least (I know I said 165 earlier but just because you take it off the heat doesn’t mean it stops cookin- it will get to 165 degrees chillin on the cutting board waiting to get eaten).
9. Take the can out the chicken and throw that away– don’t drink it trust me.
10. Now you may eat.
Tip-
Serves great as taco meat or by itself. I like it with an Asian Style Slaw…..That extra KICK to get your taste buds tantric….
We love how Katie creatively integrated a Bare Naked Ladies song into her entry. Pure genius and pure delicious with our Sriracha seasoning!!