Grilled Chicken with Beet-Vodka Sauce and a Touch of Sriracha

When Mel of Gourmet Fury and I hosted Battle BEETS, our first monthly food fight, Beet n Squash YOU! last month, we had so many fabulous beet recipes sent to us by both our fellow bloggers and our readers. I can't wait to see what fennel dishes you all will create for our Battle FENNEL the deadline of which is fast approaching.When we announced the winners of Battle BEETS, I mentioned that, Mark, one of our contest participants, had entered a very interesting recipe which I would blog about soon. So, here it is -- Mark's delicious and cleverly-named "BeetBQ Chicken."

But is Mark's recipe featured here? Well, uh, sort of.

I started off with the intention of following Mark's recipe. According to it, fresh beets are supposed to be peeled, cubed, and pureed with water to create a thick-ish paste. Some of the beet puree then goes into the marinade along with some Indian spices and Thai Sriracha sauce. The end result looks and tastes almost like the beloved Indian tandoori chicken, especially with the beets acting as the natural colorant for the familiar reddish color. But since leaving well enough alone is not something I'm particularly good at, I decided to tinker with the recipe the moment my vision fell on a bottle of vodka which I have around to disinfect and alleviate jellyfish stings-- a very common kitchen hazard.

There's something about the fragrance of fresh beet pureed with vodka that transports you to Eastern Europe - a place that has had my heart in its firm Slavic grip since I was a little girl. As I poured the vodka-beet puree over the deboned chicken thighs, I fell into a trance where all I could think of was Borscht, and suddenly I felt this primal urge to place a dollop of snow-white yogurt on top of the magenta goo, followed by some honey and dill.

So I did.

And just like that, it was official. The chicken that was meant to say, "Namaste" became the chicken that greeted you with, "Zdrasvuite."

Mark, I'm sorry I doctored your recipe. (Duck and cover.) Please don't hate me. I couldn't help myself. You should be happy to know, though, that it turned out very well. The yogurt helps tenderize the meat while the sugar content in the beet puree creates the caramelization on the skin and acts as a coating that keeps the chicken meat utterly moist. When you wrap the hot-off-the-grill (or, in this case, broiler), in a piece of foil, the coating and the flavorful chicken juices form a sauce that tastes so delicious.This is something I know I will be making again and again.

Grilled Chicken with Beet-Vodka Sauce and a Touch of Sriracha
(Makes 4 grilled chicken thighs)


4 large bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (please keep the skin on, please ...)
3 small beets, peeled and cubed
1 small yellow onion
3/4 cup plain vodka
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon dried dill
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/s teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup Thai Sriracha sauce (Short of homemade Thai Sriracha, I recommend Shark brand.)
3 teaspoons salt

• Place the chicken in a mixing bowl and set aside.
• Puree the beets, onion, and the vodka in a blender until smooth; pour the beet puree over the chicken.
• Add the remaining ingredients to the chicken bowl and mix well being careful not to tear the skin off the chicken. Cover the bowl and let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
• Grill or broil the chicken until the juices run clear. Wrap the warm chicken pieces in a large piece of foil and let them rest for 10 minutes. This allows the meat to relax a bit and retain internal moisture. Some juice will be released and form a nice viscous sauce when mixed with the beet coating.
• Serve with steamed rice. (I put a couple of tablespoons of the marinade into the rice pot when I cooked the rice resulting in the faint maroon color which you see in the picture above.)

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