Butterscotch Chicken

I am not usually one to shy away from sugar encrusted pieces of roast animal. However, the idea of butterscotch chicken seemed a little sickly sweet, if not overkill. I know there are several Asian dishes that include incredibly sweet sauces, such as sweet and sour pork and lemon chicken, but they are not generally my go to. Overall using butterscotch as a chicken sauce doesn’t seem like a great idea. But seeing as this recipe originates in the Simpsons Universe, I am willing to accept that massive amounts of sugar (aka corn syrup) and GMO chicken are likely a sound basis for a weeknight Simpsons meal.

I decided to do two trials of this recipe; a classy version of butterscotch chicken, which I found on DinnerIntervention.com. This recipe uses an organic chicken, a mix of herbs (similar to Herbs de Provence), Scotch (I used whiskey, as it is what I had in the house, being Canadian) and obviously butter.

Butterscotch Chicken 1 Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon lavender
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/3 cup Scotch
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 whole chicken

Directions

Grind the herbs, salt and pepper together with a mortar and pestle. Melt the butter and add the Scotch. Place the chicken in a roasting pan. Stir in the herb mixture and brush over the outside and the inside of the chicken.

Roast at 400° for 20 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350° for 30 more minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices.

If this butterscotch chicken was my last meal, I would definitely tell the warden to bring on the lethal injections. I hadn’t eaten a meal that good since I was in the Army, or that noisily for that matter! The house had a lightly sweet scent of butterscotch and the chicken was super tender and moist, it had a crust of caramelized skin and the herbs and whiskey permeated all of it. I made it for my roommate and myself and honestly it was superb.

Now, if the Dinner Intervention was the Guilded Truffle version of Butterscotch Chicken, the following would most definitely be the version that Starla would have made for Kirk between changing wigs. And as I am currently in my underwear I figured I would also tackle this less classy version of butterscotch chicken. So, without further Apu, here we go!

Butterscotch Chicken 2 Ingredients

• 4 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 jar of butterscotch sauce, your choice of brand (I used Smucker’s)

Directions

Salt chicken thighs all over. Melt the butter in pan that will fit all four thighs (preferably one that can go right into the oven) and brown the skin sides of the thighs. Remove from pan. Pour some of the butterscotch into the pan, as a base, put chicken pieces back in, skin side up and coat with the remaining sauce. Bake at 400° for about 30 mins to allow the butterscotch to encrust the chicken and reduce a bit. Spoon the sauce over the thighs a few times while roasting.

This attempt is hardly a recipe; it basically involves coating chicken thighs in butterscotch from a jar. In addition, I have to point out that I used Smucker’s brand butterscotch. I decided to approach this the way Marge would…a jar of butterscotch over non-free range, non-local, factory farmed chicken. I was considering dredging the chicken in cornstarch, since it’s good for keeping down the urges, but figured Marge probably wouldn’t have browned her chicken before pouring on the Smucker’s. Still, I felt the recipe should probably include browning the skin side of the chicken in butter.

I didn’t expect much from this recipe, but it was not bad at all, it seemed to make me want it more the longer the chicken baked and the browner and stickier the sauce became. Molten hot sugar aside, this was pretty tasty. I mean it really just resembles a caramelized chicken, buttery and sweet, but I also heavily salted the thighs before I seared the skins, so it balanced out. I am not saying I would go out of my way to make this again, but it was way better than I expected!

Butterscotch Chicken Recipe From: A Milhouse Divided (The Simpsons Season 8 – Episode 6)

Cromulence: Butterscotch Chicken 1 : 10 borrowed feelings out of 10 / Butterscotch Chicken 2 : 6 racing car beds out of

Today’s entry was written by fabulous guess writer Kris Rogerson, famed RMT and Simpsons fan.