Grilled Chicken with Plum-Jalapeno Sauce

While on vacation in northern California, we drove from Santa Clara (just outside of San Francisco, in Silicon Valley) to Mammoth Lakes, which is in the eastern Sierra Mountains. This route took us straight through the San Joaquin valley.  This valley is saturated with orchards - grove upon grove of peaches, plums, olives, and almonds, to name a few.  Where there are orchards, there are farm stands.  However, in order to have prolific orchards, one also must have persistent heat.  I'm not talking about the kind of warm summer day that urges you to take a walk to the park or have a picnic in the backyard.  Nope.  I'm talking about scorching, floating-down-the River Hades kind of heat.  It was 113 degrees F when we passed through. Anybody that knows me well knows that I wilt in heat over 90 degrees F.  I was always the kid that came back from gym class with bright red cheeks that didn't subside for at least an hour. However, my love of fresh fruits and veggies trumped the heat and I actually agreed to get out of the car to visit the farm stands.We picked up a bag of the sweetest summer corn, along with a bushel of large, juicy plums, and an incredible cherry pie.  It was well worth the sacrifice!

This recipe is based on a recipe in Food & Wine Magazine. The original recipe called for sweet or spicy red pepper jelly.  However, Mammoth Lakes' grocery store, while relatively well-stocked, was lacking in red pepper jellies.  So, I improvised by adding some mango fruit spread and chopped jalapeno pepper.  I was pretty darn pleased with the results.

Preheat the grill to medium heat.

Place 12 chicken drumsticks on a baking sheet and coat the chicken with 2 tbsp olive oil.

Season well with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.


Place the chicken on the grill and cook for about 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until the chicken is browned and cooked through.

While the chicken is grilling, prepare the plum sauce.

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a medium saucepan over moderately low heat. Seed and mince half of a jalapeno pepper. Add the pepper and 1/4 cup minced red onion to the saucepan and cook until the onion and pepper are soft, about 5 minutes.



Cut 2 medium-sized plums (about 4 oz) each into 1/2-inch pieces and add it to the onion mixture.


Cook until the plums are soft and broken down. Add 1/4 cup mango fruit spread and 1 tsp Dijon mustard.


Cook on high heat until the mango spread melts.

Carefully pour the mixture into a food processor or blender.


Puree until the mixture is smooth.


Baste the chicken drumsticks with the plum puree.


Cook until the sauce is caramelized, about 5 minutes. Serve the chicken with the extra sauce.

Other recipes using plums:

Simply Recipes' Plum Sorbet

Smitten Kitchen's Dimply Plum Cake

101 Cookbooks' Plum & Peach Crisp

Grilled Chicken with Plum-Jalapeno Sauce

12 chicken drumsticks

2 tbsp olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 cup minced red onion

1/2 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

2 plums (4 oz each), cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/4 cup mango fruit spread

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Preheat the grill to medium heat.

Place the chicken drumsticks on a baking sheet and coat the chicken with the olive oil.  Season well with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Place the chicken on the grill and cook for about 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until the chicken is browned and cooked through.

While the chicken is grilling, prepare the plum sauce.

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a medium saucepan over moderately low heat. Add the jalapeno pepper and minced red onion to the saucepan and cook until the onion and pepper are soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the chopped plums to the onion mixture.  Cook until the plums are soft and broken down. Add the mango fruit spread and Dijon mustard.  Cook on high heat until the mango spread melts.  Carefully pour the mixture into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.

Baste the chicken drumsticks with the plum puree.  Cook until the sauce is caramelized, about 5 minutes. Serve the chicken with the extra sauce.

Makes 12 chicken drumsticks, plus extra sauce for serving.

Printable recipe

Related Site

-Free Food Recipes Online

-Food and Drink Magazine

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Title: BBQ Chicken Recipe

Chef Jason Hill of http://www.CookingSessions.com shows you make a delicious and easy BBQ chicken recipe in this episode of "Chef Tips."

After visiting the North Shore's roadside huli huli chicken stands, Jason heads home to the chicken to share his version of Hawaiian BBQ chicken.

First, prepare your BBQ chicken marinade the day before you plan to grill.

Though you can prepare this as a BBQ rotisserie chicken, the results are more flavorful when you cut chicken into pieces.

This recipe for BBQ chicken uses a flavorful marinade that includes brown sugar, honey, pineapple juice, sesame oil, fresh grated ginger and crushed garlic.

When cooking BBQ chicken, consider using a smoker box. For authentic Hawaiian BBQ, use kiawe wood (known in America as mesquite chips).

Once the honey BBQ chicken sauce has soaked into the meat overnight, remove from the refrigerator and cook over high heat, skin side down, turning a couple times. Then, move to the low burner and shut the lid, where it will slowly cook and smoke for about 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 F. The smaller pieces will cook more quickly than the larger breast pieces.

Serve this with your favorite mac salad, cole slaw and white rice.

Go to http://www.CookingSessions.com for the full printed recipe.