Famous Last Meals / Modern companion recipe

Oven Barbecue Chicken for Two

Name: Oven Barbecue Chicken for Two
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 2 glazed bone-in chicken thighs; serves 2 as part of a meal, with no sides included
Ingredients: 2 plain bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, about 6⅓ oz/180 g each including bone and skin (360 g total), fully thawed in the refrigerator; 1 teaspoon neutral cooking oil (5 ml); ¼ teaspoon fine salt (1.5 g); 3 tablespoons plain tomato ketchup (45 g); 2 teaspoons cider vinegar (10 ml); 2 teaspoons packed light brown sugar (8 g); 1 teaspoon prepared Dijon mustard (5 g); ½ teaspoon smoked paprika (1 g); ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper (0.25 g)

Two chicken thighs roast before a small homemade glaze goes on for the final stage. A contemporary broadcast described a barbecued-chicken meal offered to Wuornos and refused. The oven method, sauce formula and two-person portion here are new home-kitchen choices.

2 glazed bone-in chicken thighs; serves 2 as part of a meal, with no sides includedActive 20 minCooking 45 minTotal 1 hr 10 min

Read Aileen Wuornos: A Dinner Declined →

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One plain cream serving plate holding exactly two cooked skin-on bone-in chicken thighs with a thin glossy reddish-brown barbecue glaze. Lightly browned edges, no charred black sauce, visible natural irregular thigh shapes. — Original modern recipe illustration: Oven Barbecue Chicken for Two. See the measured recipe for portions and cooking instructions.

Ingredients

2 plain bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, about 6⅓ oz/180 g each including bone and skin (360 g total), fully thawed in the refrigerator
1 teaspoon neutral cooking oil (5 ml)
¼ teaspoon fine salt (1.5 g)
3 tablespoons plain tomato ketchup (45 g)
2 teaspoons cider vinegar (10 ml)
2 teaspoons packed light brown sugar (8 g)
1 teaspoon prepared Dijon mustard (5 g)
½ teaspoon smoked paprika (1 g)
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper (0.25 g)

Set out

Conventional oven, Shallow metal roasting pan with usable base at least 8×8 in/20×20 cm, Small mixing bowl and spoon, Food-safe pastry brush, Thin-probe food thermometer, Tongs, separate raw-poultry preparation area and disposable kitchen paper, Clean cooked-chicken plate, oven mitts and foil for shielding a darkening glaze

Allergens

Mustard. No major US allergen is intentionally required, but prepared ketchup and Dijon mustard formulas vary and can contain additional ingredients or cross-contact warnings. Mustard is present and is an allergen in some jurisdictions. Check the actual containers and any substitutions.

Make it

Heat the oven to 400°F/200°C with a middle shelf clear. In the small bowl mix ketchup, vinegar, sugar, mustard, paprika and pepper until the sugar is distributed. Keep this glaze separate from the raw chicken until the brushing step.
Blot the thawed thighs with disposable kitchen paper; do not wash raw chicken. Put skin-side up in the roasting pan with at least 1 in/2.5 cm between them. Rub with all the oil and salt. Wash hands and clean the raw-poultry preparation area.
Roast uncovered for 20–25 minutes, until the skin starts coloring. This is a partly cooked stage, not a safe serving endpoint. Remove the pan only long enough to brush all the measured glaze over the tops and exposed sides, keeping the skin upward.
Return to the oven and roast another 15–20 minutes, checking both thighs near the shorter time. Each thickest meaty part must reach at least 165°F/74°C, measured from the side away from bone and pan. Continue as needed; sticky brown glaze does not prove the center is safely cooked. If the glaze darkens early, cover loosely with foil and continue.
Treat the brush and bowl as having contacted partly cooked poultry: wash them thoroughly and never use them to dress cooked food. Use clean tongs to move the cooked thighs to the clean plate and rest 5 minutes. Serve 1 thigh per person. The pan drippings are not a dipping sauce; no side dish or garnish is included.

A useful detail

The 70-minute total allows 20 minutes for preparation and preheating, up to 45 minutes roasting and a 5-minute rest. Larger thighs, cold ovens and differing pan surfaces can extend cooking; the 165°F/74°C center check decides when each thigh is ready. The measured raw weight includes bones and skin.

Keep it well

Refrigerate remaining chicken promptly in shallow covered containers within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F/32°C, at 40°F/4°C or below. Use within 2 days. Reheat only the portion needed until its thickest center reaches 165°F/74°C; cover to protect the glaze from scorching. Keep cooked food away from the used raw-poultry surface and utensils.

How this recipe relates to the story

WTLV’s Lori Aragon, reporting live on CNN on 9 October 2002, described a barbecued-chicken meal Wuornos had refused. No cut, sauce formula, cooking method or quantity is supplied. This new recipe chooses oven-roasted thighs and a measured ketchup-mustard glaze; it is not the prison meal and does not imply she ate it.

Another way

Use sweet paprika instead of smoked paprika at the same 1 g weight for a milder sauce flavor; neither spice is established by the historical broadcast.
Choose a plain gluten-free-labeled ketchup and mustard if needed for the diners, checking every product and preparation surface; this does not make the original recipe a certified allergen-free dish.