BBQ potatoes are one of my favorite things to get at Alabama barbecue restaurants. They were popularized by Big Bob Gibson's, who is also known for creating white barbecue sauce. Until I get a recipe for Alabama red barbecue sauce that I'm happy with, though, I'll just make it with standard barbecue sauce. You don't need fancy equipment to do barbecue, this recipe was made with a portable induction burner, an 8.5 inch stainless steel skillet, and an air-fryer and nothing else. It's easier and safer to braise the chicken in a pressure cooker, so I would recommend doing that if you have one, but it can be done without a pressure cooker. I kept the calories for this just barely under 600, mostly through portion control. The BBQ potatoes you get at restaurants are probably closer to 1300 calories. To reduce the glycemic load of this recipe and keep it safer for my blood sugar I used a Yukon gold potato which has a lower glycemic index than a russet potato. Since sugar is needed for the rub to blacken, I used coconut sugar, which has a lower glycemic index than regular sugar. I used a low sugar barbecue sauce without any artificial sweeteners, and as a bonus it's very low in calories and helped me keep the calories under 600. The only thing I don't like about the sauce is it has natural flavor, but it was the best I could get. I used Algae Cooking Club oil for this recipe. If you combine a stainless steel skillet with algae cooking oil you can get away with using only 1/2 a tsp of oil and save money in the long-run. It has such a high smoke point, even that small of an amount of oil won't produce any smoke even at the high temperatures that stainless steel becomes non-stick at. And nothing gets a better sear on meat than stainless steel, perfect for blackening this chicken to "fake" the flavor of barbecue. Braising the chicken makes it super tender, and don't worry, it's extremely unlikely you'll overcook the chicken when braising.
Ingredients:
Spice Rub:
Instructions
Prepare the Potato: Wash and scrub the potato. Rub it with the avocado oil, and salt it with fresh ground Himalayan pink sea salt. Poke holes in the potato with a fork. Place in an air-fryer or oven at 400 degrees and bake for 40 minutes. While the potato is baking, get started on the chicken.
Prepare the meat: Mix the pink salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and coconut sugar. Rub the chicken thigh with the spice rub. Heat a stainless steel skillet on medium high heat until water behaves like mercury when dropped on the skillet(Liedenfrost Effect). Put the algae cooking oil on the pan and spread around. Place the chicken on the stainless steel skillet, the chicken will stick to the stainless steel skillet, then naturally unstick as it cooks. When one side blackens some, flip and blacken on the other side. Elevate the chicken one inch above the bottom of the pan(if you don't have any tools to do this, as a last resort you can place the chicken on a thick slice of onion to keep it elevated above the water). Pour water in the pan, the chicken should not be touching the water, the steam will cook it. Put a lid over the skillet and braise the chicken for about 20 minutes or until the potato is finished. Keep a close eye on the pan, replenishing the water every now and then while it boils away. DO NOT ALLOW ALL THE WATER TO BOIL AWAY. Alternatively, place the chicken over a water bath in a pressure cooker, and pressure cook until the potato is done.
Finish and assemble: When the potato is done cooking, remove it from the oven or air fryer. Remove the braised chicken thigh and place on a cutting board. The chicken should be tender enough to easily shred with your hands now. If not, keep the potato warm and continue braising the chicken thigh. Cut the potato in half, spread the butter over the potato, place the cheese on top of the butter, place the shredded chicken on top of the cheese, pour barbecue sauce over the chicken, and garnish with green onions and chopped bacon.
