NailBat
Well-Known Member
So this is less a recipe and more just an idea, but we were really happy with how this came out. I meant to take a picture but the food tempted me before I had the chance.
I had bought some flavored honey and vinegar from a farmer's market, it happened to be chile flavored honey and maple ginger flavored vinegar, but the technique here ought to work with any kind of honey and vinegar.
I had bought some flavored honey and vinegar from a farmer's market, it happened to be chile flavored honey and maple ginger flavored vinegar, but the technique here ought to work with any kind of honey and vinegar.
- Start by salting and browning your protein of choice. You'll want to get a good golden brown crust and a fond in the pan, but otherwise you won't be cooking the meat all the way through just yet. Once nice and browned, set the meat aside and reduce the heat to low. We were cooking chicken for sandwiches so I pounded it thin, but this technique isn't particular about exactly how you cook the protein.
- Take maybe a cup of water and spike it with a few glugs of vinegar. Meanwhile, add honey to a heat-safe bowl, I think I used two tablespoons, but precision isn't really necessary here. Pour the vinegar-water mixture into the pan to deglaze those brown bits, and once dissolved pour that liquid into the bowl with the honey, so that the hot liquid dissolves it. Stir the honey/vinegar/fond mixture to make sure all the honey is dissolved.
- Return the meat to the pan, add the honey/vinegar/fond mixture. Cover and let the meat gently simmer over low heat, until its cooked all the way through. That'll depend on what kind of meat you're using, but five minutes was plenty of time for the thin chicken we used.
- Once the meat is cooked to the desired doneness, remove from the pan and cover to keep warm. Crank up the heat and let that liquid reduce to a syrupy consistency. Then remove the pan from the heat and toss the meat in the liquid to coat.
- Serve as you please, we used this on sandwiches with lettuce, tomato, pickled onion, and pickled cherry peppers.