Quick Barbecued Chicken

Okay, I'm from the South. It's my job to eat barbecue. Really! It is! Would I lie to you? But I don't always want to go outside to cook it on the grill. Yes, sometimes I want that good, smokey flavor. But sometimes I just wish I could make really good barbecue in my kitchen. Well, leave it to Lorna Sass to come up with a pressure cooker recipe. This recipe is from her book, Cooking Under Pressure, which I highly recommend. See the sidebar of my favorite tools for my favorite pressure cooker. Makes my cooking life so much easier. Don't ask where's the picture. It smelled so good when it finished cooking that we just ate it up right away! I had a breast leftover, which I used a couple of days later for pizza. I'll post that recipe in a bit. Next time I make this (which won't be long) I'll take a photo...if I can wait to eat it long enough! LOL!

Quick Barbecued Chicken

2 tablespoons oil
3 to 4 pounds chicken parts, preferably thighs and drumsticks, skinned (I used boneless skinless breasts and some skin on drumsticks)
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onions
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced (optional) (I used 1/2 half green and 1/2 red bell peppers)
2 cups prepared barbecue sauce

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the cooker. Brown the chicken well on both sides in small batches, adding extra oil as needed. Set the browned chicken on a platter. Pour of or sop up leftover oil if needed.

Add the water, taking care to scrape up any browned bits (the fancy cooking term for this is suc) sticking to the bottom.

Place the onions and green pepper (if using) in the bottom of the cooker. Add the reserved browned chicken plus any juices that have collected on the platter. Pour the sauce on top. Do not stir.

Lock the lid in place and over high heat bring to high pressure. Adjust the heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 9 minutes. (I cooked for 15 minutes since I had large pieces of breasts) Reduce the pressure with a quick-release method. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape.

Place the chicken on individual plates or a serving platter. If the sauce is too thin, tent the chicken with aluminum foil, and boil the sauce vigorously until reduced. Spoon the sauce on top of the chicken and serve.

Variation Note: There's no reason you can't do ribs this way. Just set your pressure cooker for the time recommended for ribs. Hmmm...this winter might be a big barbecue eatin' winter!!!