Grilled Chicken with Blueberry Bourbon Barbecue Sauce and Homemade Coleslaw

Cooking on a Friday night? Yikes! That's usually a recipe for staying in (and it was) but after having had two nights of laziness and a non-desire to cook, I was dying for something quasi fresh and homemade. It was quite a strange occurance that we decided to eat out on both a Wednesday and Thursday night - and there was nothing to celebrate. Actually, quite the contrary. My car troubles led to my indesire to be creative, get ingredients, and cook....oh and then clean!! It really is quite a process that doesn't usually seem so daunting - but for these two days, I wanted simplicity. And looking at the menu items that I chose on those two days of oddity, I can see why it is so easy to get lazy and make poor diet selections - it is comforting!! Wednesday was burgers and zin (free range, non-greasy patties of course...whole wheat bun...so OK not horrible) and Thursday was Chicago Deep Dish Pizza....and zin...but served with a yummy salad so of course we weren't too much of gluttons. But thus my wanting a fresh meal at home on a Friday night.

My inspiration ingredient? Corn

What is more classic than barbecue , corn and coleslaw? Rather than a slow cooked piece of meat (which would have been completely impossible and would have pushed dinner into Saturday...) I wanted a simple piece of grilled chicken with a homemade barbecue sauce. After first leaning toward a traditional sauce, I came across this recipe for a Blueberry Bourbon Barbecue Sauce that immediately struck my eye:

Blueberry-Bourbon Barbecue Sauce
(we did about a half recipe which was more than enough!)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 small red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup bourbon
2 cups fresh or frozen (not thawed) blueberries
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Preparation
1.Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and just starting to brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeno and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add bourbon, increase heat to high and bring to a boil; cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir in blueberries, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, molasses and allspice; return to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Our variation: after the sauce has thickened, use an immersion blender to blend the ingredients together so that it is still slightly chunky but the blueberry flavors are better incorporated and you won't be eating a whole blueberry.

We served this atop a piece of simple grilled chicken with salt, pepper and olive oil.

We also made some homemade coleslaw with green cabbage, green onions, and yellow peppers. A sauce of apple cider and red wine vinegar with a little mayo and then some lime juice and spices (Derek made it so I cannot possibly give a recipe!).

Some boiled corn and we were good to go.

One thing I've become increasingly sold on since I've been cooking is that chicken is best when it is fresh (i.e. not previously frozen). It is always so juicy without fail!!

An all-American meal, a movie, and some beer...a wonderful way to spend a Friday night.