Margarita Chicken

So Jimmy Buffet has set a course for the beautiful Mother Ocean in the sky where it’s always five o’clock, the tourists aren’t bothering anybody, the margaritas are always made from scratch, and salt shakers are plentiful and perpetually close at hand.
James William Buffet grew up in Mobile, spent a lot of time over here on my side of the bay, went to Auburn for a minute, and eventually finished at Southern Miss. (With a degree in history, I might add.) He lived in New Orleans, Key West, etc. He also checked in on his home turf often. I have never in my life heard anybody say a disparaging word about our favorite son of a son of a sailor, JWB.

Everybody I know has a story about him, and I’m not going to tell any of them here. Check Facebook. Somebody ought to compile those for his grandchildren and their children. There was a second-line parade Sunday in Mobile. A buddy invited me to a cheeseburger and margarita shindig before the parade. Alas, I already had an obligation.

This wasn’t the recipe I planned to post this week, but as I worked through my Saturday morning chore list–it included cleaning out the fridge–I ran across a package of chicken breasts I needed to use. I was thinking about missing the cheeseburger and margarita party, and wondering if I could cook something equally festive as a consolation. When I went into my home office to empty the overflowing wastebasket, I saw my notebook of recipes I’m forever working on.

I’ve taken a stab at Margarita Chicken once or twice already. The idea isn’t new. But I look at the recipes out there and there are recipes with lots of garlic, or recipes with seasonings like cumin and chili powder. Of course you could drink a margarita with a chicken dish like that, but to my mind that’s not Margarita Chicken.

It seems to me Margarita Chicken ought to embrace the native flavors of a good margarita and stop there. Salted rim or not, margaritas are lime-forward, sweet, sour, citrusy, and boozy. Tequila itself is fruity and slightly sweet with a little bite. Triple sec is a sweet orange liqueur. There’s no garlic flavor in there anywhere. And while the experts may comment on a tequila’s earthy notes, the earthiness of cumin is way too much. So ultimately, I did Margarita Chicken a little differently. Go figure.

I hope you like the Margarita Chicken below as much as we do. (The easy and delicious sauce even smells like a real homemade margarita!) I served it with Coconut Rice, which is a staple at my house, and we also had grilled pineapple on the side, which we love. (Grill extra so you can make Pineapple Salsa later.)

I like to think Jimmy would approve.