{"id":5725,"date":"2009-05-17T18:30:44","date_gmt":"2009-05-17T22:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/?p=5725"},"modified":"2009-05-17T18:30:44","modified_gmt":"2009-05-17T22:30:44","slug":"cocoa-chili-rubbed-chicken-thighs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/2009\/05\/cocoa-chili-rubbed-chicken-thighs\/","title":{"rendered":"Cocoa-Chili Rubbed Chicken Thighs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_5730\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5730\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5730\" title=\"ohc-choco_chili_chick\" src=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/ohc-choco_chili_chick-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Cocoa-Chili Rub \" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/ohc-choco_chili_chick-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/ohc-choco_chili_chick.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5730\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cocoa-Chili Rub <\/p><\/div>\n<p>I have seen people use cocoa powder before in savory recipes and it always interested me.\u00a0 However, I&#8217;ve never been inspired enough nor had that spark of creativity to come up with a use for it till now.\u00a0 I was watching some Food TV one Sunday morning and at the same time thinking about what I can make for dinner that evening.\u00a0 I like to create sort of traditional Sunday Suppers for us and when the warm weather arrives, both of us love when Sunday Supper includes grilling.<\/p>\n<p>I started going through the inventory sheet in my mind of things I had on hand that I could use with cocoa powder.\u00a0 One of my favorite combinations is dark chocolate and dried cranberries.\u00a0 Normally I&#8217;m not much of a fruit + chocolate person but there is just something about the slight bitterness of dark chocolate paired with the sweet tartness of cranberry that makes me sigh with delight.<\/p>\n<p>I decided to work with this combo and create a grilled chicken dish around those flavors.\u00a0 I knew this would be perfect to try out on some chicken thighs and bringing out poultry means making a brine.\u00a0 That&#8217;s where the cranberry comes in.\u00a0 Ready to cook with chocolate?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Andrea&#8217;s Cocoa-Chili Rubbed Chicken Thighs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>For the Brine:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1.5C Unsweetened cranberry juice<\/li>\n<li>2C Water<\/li>\n<li>1\/3C Kosher salt<\/li>\n<li>3TBSP Packed brown sugar<\/li>\n<li>1\/4-1\/2 Medium onion, chunked<\/li>\n<li>2 stalks celery, chunked<\/li>\n<li>2 garlic cloves<\/li>\n<li>2tsp Ground Black pepper<\/li>\n<li>1tsp Garlic powder<\/li>\n<li>2tsp Chili Powder<\/li>\n<li>1tsp Smoked paprika<\/li>\n<li>Pinch Cayenne pepper<\/li>\n<li>Pinch Red pepper flakes<\/li>\n<li>5-6 Bone-in chicken thighs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>For the Rub:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1tsp Dark Cocoa powder<\/li>\n<li>2tsp Chili powder<\/li>\n<li>1\/2tsp Garlic powder<\/li>\n<li>1tsp Grill Seasoning (salt free)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The brine gets created first.\u00a0 In a large deep bowl combine the cranberry juice, salt, sugar, and water.\u00a0 Stir everything together until the salt and sugar are dissolved.\u00a0 Then add in the onions, celery, and remaining seasonings, stir to combine.\u00a0 Add in the chicken, and then add more water so that the chicken is completely covered and submerged in the brine.\u00a0 Place bowl in the fridge and allow the chicken to brine for at least 6 hours.<\/p>\n<p>About an hour before you are going to grill the chicken, remove the chicken from the brine.\u00a0 Give a quick rinse and pat dry, placing chicken on a plate.\u00a0 Combine all the ingredients for the rub in a small bowl.\u00a0 Then rub down the chicken with the cocoa chili rub making sure that the entire thigh is covered.\u00a0 Allow the chicken thighs to sit in the rub for at least 1\/2 an hour.<\/p>\n<p>Heat grill and cook the thighs until cooked through, about five minutes each side.\u00a0 Remove from grill, allow thighs to rest for about 2 minutes and then serve.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This recipe turned out so much better than I expected.\u00a0 Admittedly I was a little nervous working with cocoa powder in a savory dish because I had never done that before.\u00a0 We&#8217;re always afraid of the unknown, right?\u00a0 As it was grilling, the chicken smelled amazing.\u00a0 Which made Scott and I both very excited to try this new dish!\u00a0 We kept pacing around the deck watching the clock so we could eat already.<\/p>\n<p>The thing that stood out the most was the visual presentation, the chicken having a nice dark color from the rub.\u00a0 Chili powder is a deep color on it&#8217;s own, by adding the cocoa powder, not only does it add another depth to the flavor but it also brings more richness to the color of the chicken as it cooks.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5728\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5728\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5728\" title=\"ohc_choco_chili_chick2\" src=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/ohc_choco_chili_chick2-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Grilled Chicken Thighs \" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/ohc_choco_chili_chick2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/ohc_choco_chili_chick2.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5728\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grilled Chicken Thighs <\/p><\/div>\n<p>The flavor of the chicken was beyond what I was expecting.\u00a0 Chili powder has a spicy heat to it which is enhanced by the sweet yet slightly bitterness of the cocoa powder.\u00a0 It provides a rich deep flavor that I wasn&#8217;t quite expecting and ended up loving.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t eat meat all that much and when I make something like chicken, I prefer bone-in skin on pieces.\u00a0 The chicken is more moist as it cooks because of the skin and usually bone-in pieces are larger providing you with more for your money because they are also cheaper cuts of meat.\u00a0 I don&#8217;t eat the skin, I take it off.\u00a0 It&#8217;s purpose is to provide flavor and keep the chicken from drying out.\u00a0 However, this does not mean you have to do the same.\u00a0 If you prefer boneless, skinless, by all means use that.<\/p>\n<p>I used unsweetened cranberry juice because it was going into a brine and I wanted to control the sugar amount.\u00a0 Plus unsweetened juice is much better for you and there&#8217;s no worry of fake or chemical additives.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5729\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5729\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5729\" title=\"ohc_choco_chili_chick3\" src=\"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/ohc_choco_chili_chick3-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Cocoa-Chili Rubbed Grilled Chicken Thighs \" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/ohc_choco_chili_chick3-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/ohc_choco_chili_chick3.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5729\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cocoa-Chili Rubbed Grilled Chicken Thighs <\/p><\/div>\n<p>I started with 1tsp of cocoa powder since this was my first attempt using it in a savory dish.\u00a0 Next time I make this, I&#8217;m going to try adding a bit more cocoa and see what happens.\u00a0 I&#8217;ll probably go up to 1.5tsp.\u00a0 If you make this and want to pump up the cocoa amount, go for it!<\/p>\n<p>This was a great intro recipe for using cocoa powder in savory dishes.\u00a0 I can&#8217;t wait to start experimenting more and seeing what I can do!<\/p>\n<p>Enjoy guys! And remember, always play with your food!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have seen people use cocoa powder before in savory recipes and it always interested me.\u00a0 However, I&#8217;ve never been inspired enough nor had that spark of creativity to come up with a use for it till now.\u00a0 I was watching some Food TV one Sunday morning and at the same time thinking about what [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[33,39],"tags":[14,63],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4KYWa-1ul","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5725"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}