Maple-Mustard Chicken Thighs

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 thighs and 2 tablespoons sauce)

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup spicy brown mustard 
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon grated onion 
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons lower-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned 
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Cooking spray 

Preparation

1. Combine first 9 ingredients. Place half of mixture in a zip-top plastic bag; reserve remaining mixture. 
2. Add chicken to bag; seal. Chill 2 hours.
3. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.   (or roast them in the oven for an hour or so)
4. Remove chicken from bag. Sprinkle chicken with salt. Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 8 minutes on each side or until done. Serve with reserved mustard mixture.

Chocolate Irish Stout Cupcakes

 Ingredients:

(For the cupcakes)

• 1 cup Irish stout (Guinness, Murphy's, etc)
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream

(For the filling…chances are, this will be more than you need. Please use this as an excuse to liberally taste-test, and/or overfill your cupcakes. It is entirely your call.)

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons room-temperature, unsalted butter 

(For the frosting)

• 4 oz Cream Cheese, room temp
• 1/2 stick butter, room temp
• 1/2 lb powdered sugar
• 3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

Instructions:

Make the cupcakes:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the butter into large chunks. In a large-ish saucepan, over medium heat, bring the butter and stout to a simmer. 
3. While the butter melts, in a larger-than-the-saucepan-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. The butter and stout should be simmering by now; remove them from the heat, add the cocoa and whisk together until smooth. Allow this mixture to cool for a few minutes.
4. While you wait for the butter-stout-chocolate mixture to cool, mix the eggs and sour cream with an electric beater until smooth. Pour in the butter-stout-chocolate mixture, and mix until just combined.
5. Pour this thick, chocolatey goodness into the previously-whisked flour–sugar-baking soda-salt bowl. You’ll probably want to break out your spatula at this point. Stir until just combined.
6. Put paper liners in a mini cupcake tray. Trust me. You can oil/grease/spray all you want, but you will still leave chunks of cupcake behind when you remove them. I know this. Fill the cups 3/4 full of batter and bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the pan half way through for even baking.
7. After the cupcakes have cooled, poke a hole in the middle. You could also use the end of a wooden spoon or even your finger. If you go with that approach, spray a little Pam on it beforehand. Also consider washing it.

Now make the filling:

1. Put your bittersweet chocolate in a bowl. This is easy when you use bittersweet chocolate chips. If you’re using a bar of chocolate, chop it roughly. Or gently. Your call.
2. In a medium-sized (maybe even the same one that you used to melt the butter and stout previously) pan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer.
3. Pour the cream over the chocolate, add the butter and stir until smooth and combined. Refrigerate, stirring every 10 minutes, until it’s pourable but not too runny.
4. To fill the cupcakes, spoon the ganache into a frosting bag or a plastic ziplock with the one corner cut off. Gently squeeze the ganache into the holes in the cupcakes.

Now make the frosting:

1. Put your room temperature butter and cream cheese into a large-ish bowl. It’s about to get messy, and you’ll want room to add sugar and whip the snot out of it.
2. With an electric beater, whip the butter until it’s light and fluffy.
3. Slowly add 3 cups of the powdered sugar, a little bit at a time. This keeps the frosting from getting grainy, and also allows you to spend more time playing with your electric mixer. Both are very important.
4. Add 3-4 tablespoons of the Baileys, depending on the level of flavor you want.
5. Add more powdered sugar if the Baileys has made it too runny
6. Frost those babies.