Home-made Bar-b-qued Chicken

Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position, about 5 inches from the upper heating element; heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk the ketchup, powdered spices, Worcestershire, mustard, molasses, maple syrup, and vinegar together in a small bowl and set aside. Season the chicken with pepper. Place chicken in sauce and marinate 8 hours, or overnight, in the refrigerator.

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed, nonreactive, 12-inch ovenproof skillet over high heat, until beginning to smoke. Brown the chicken, turn and cook 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.

Discard the fat in the skillet. off the heat, add the sauce mixture and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the skillet. Simmer the sauce over medium heat, stirring frequently with a heatproof spatula, until the sauce is thick and glossy and a spatula leaves a clear trail in the sauce, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Off the heat, return the chicken to the skillet and turn to coat thickly with the sauce. Spoon extra sauce over each piece of chicken to create a thick coating.

Place the skillet in the oven and cook until the thickest parts of the chicken breasts register 130 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 10-12 minutes. Set the oven to broil and continue to cook until the thickest parts of the chicken breasts register 155 degrees, 5-10 minutes longer.

Transfer the chicken to a platter and let rest 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk to combine the sauce in the skillet and transfer to a small bowl. Serve the chicken, passing the extra sauce separately.