Confessions of a Newbie Cook: Pomegranate Chicken

If you're a beginner cook like me you know how daunting it is to sometimes take on a new recipe. I personally aspire to become a great cook like my grandmother, who knows that the only reason I'm a spoiled foodie is because of her. I'm starting to take notes and ask questions whenever she cooks one of her many delicious meals because if there's one thing that I want to take with me once I leave St. Thomas, it's the food that I grew up with and continue to eat from her. My grandmother is probably the only person in the world who can make even meatloaf something to drool over. I will get there eventually but in the meantime, I'm a certified noob. This is going to be a short post but I really wanted to share this recipe with you all because it's just so good! 

I have many recipes saved but I honestly haven't used many of them due to many different reasons. Because I'm usually so busy these days I rely on using ingredients that I already have at home. So when I came across this Pomegranate Chicken Wings recipe video on the Tastemade Facebook page, I jumped at the chance to make it. I chose this recipe because not only was it extremely easy to make, but I had most of the ingredients at home. What I did not have on the other hand was Pomegranate juice, but I knew where to buy it. I also did not have chicken wings but I was not going to buy any because I had a bag of frozen chicken breasts in my freezer. It was all about working with what I had. Here is the link to the original recipe.

I tried the recipe for the first time a few weeks ago using the only technique I've been using since I started cooking: baking the chicken. I'll admit that I always relied on baking my chicken instead of cooking it on the stovetop because I was terrified that it wouldn't be cooked through. Yes, that sounds very reasonable... 😶

I quickly learned that baking the chicken breasts wasn't the best way to prepare it because although the finished product tasted amazing, the chicken was a little tough. I knew that next time I would have to conquer my fears and cook the chicken on the stovetop. So last week I tried the recipe again. I like to let my chicken marinate for a long time so I took a large zip lock bag and added the ingredients into it along with the cubed chicken breasts. I used about four breasts. 

The ingredients required baking powder, paprika, ginger powder, cumin, salt, and pepper, but I didn't have cumin so I just rolled with it. The next morning I took my marinated chicken out if the fridge and cooked it on the stovetop until I was sure it was cooked through. In the meantime, I made the glaze and added a little brown sugar to enhance the flavor.  

When everything was finished I combined the chicken into the glaze and served it with some Jasmine Rice, one of my favorites. 

This meal was so easy to make despite not having the exact ingredients, and it was just yummy! I definitely plan to do this recipe again very soon, and this time I'll make sure to get chicken wings (and cumin) so that I can follow the recipe as it was intended. I hope you'll try this recipe because it's so simple yet SO delicious. Thanks for reading!