The 4 Tablespoon Honey Mustard Chicken

A family favourite, this chicken dish is just tasty and delicious. This is my mum's recipe which I happily inherited :) When you are doing this recipe, the kitchen will smell fantastic. It consists of very few ingredients and to keep the balance between the American mustard and the honey you will have to use the same amounts of both. We use drumsticks and thighs mostly, but it will definitely do well any thighs or even chicken breast. We always serve with some nice freshly mashed potatoes and I naughtily finish all the sauce left in the plate [and sometimes the dish as well] with bread :) Make sure you only use american mustard in this recipe as other types of mustard are too strong and obviously if you use too much of it, it will ruin the dish. Go on, give it a go...you and your family will love it...so, you will need...

• 8 pieces of chicken [like drumsticks, wings or thighs]
• 4 large cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tbsp honey
• 4 tbsp American mustard
• 250ml chicken stock
• 100ml (½ cup) single cream or crème fraiche
• Freshly ground black pepper, to serve

How to...

1. Make the sauce by mixing the honey, garlic, olive oil and mustard in a bowl and stir well.
2. Pour into a large skillet and heat until the mixture starts to bubble. Add the chicken pieces and on low heat brown on both sides, make sure it is on low heat as the honey/mustard mixture will burn. 
3. Add the stock, bring to the boil and simmer uncovered on a low/medium heat until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 20 minutes.
4. When cooked remove the chicken pieces from the skillet and set aside. Add the cream and reduce the sauce on a low heat until you get a thick creamy sauce. Return the chicken to the skillet and heat for a couple of minutes.
5. Serve hot with mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Crab Mousse with Maltese Carob Liqueur

Saturday morning at the market, I could not resist the urge I had to buy fresh crabs from the fishmonger as soon as I saw the size of them, they looked awesome. So if you manage to get your hands on a fresh crab it would be great but if you cannot find it use canned crab meat instead. Obviously do not use surimi sticks which are erroneously called crab sticks. In this recipe you can see that I used light and dark crab meat, the light crab meat coming from the legs and claws of the crab whilst the dark crab meat comes from the body cavity of the crab. I also used a Maltese Carob Liqueur which gave this mousse a wonderful carob scent. If you do not have or cannot find it, you can use good quality sherry instead. It is a pretty easy recipe as all you need to is blend all the ingredients. So, here is what you will need...

• 60g light crab meat
• 60g dark crab meat
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 190ml double cream
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
• 2 tsp Maltese Ħarruba (Carob) Liqueur or Sherry if not available
• Few leaves fresh thyme or a pinch of dried thyme

How to...

1. Lightly grease 3 ramekin dishes or small glass tumblers.
2. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
3. Blend all the ingredients in a blender until you get a smooth velvety mixture.
4. Pour the mixture into the ramekins/tumblers and place them into a deep oven dish.
5. Pour boiling water in the dish up to about ¾ of the outside of the ramekin/tumbler.
6. Place in the oven for about 25-30 minutes.
7. Serve with some wild rocket or salad of your choice and some crunchy grissini or Maltese galletti.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Ragù al Cioccolato Amaro - Pork Ragù with Dark Chocolate

Oh dear...what an explosion on your taste buds this pasta sauce is!! The secret of every ragù is to simmer it on a low heat for a long period of time, but this only takes an hour. I mean only because a proper ragù can take more than 3 hours. It is also very important that you use good quality dark bitter chocolate with at least 70% cocoa solids (I used Lindt 90% Dark Chocolate) because if you use any sweet/milk chocolate, it will ruin the sauce. So if you feel adventurous, as I always am give this a go, You will need...

• 300g pork mince
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste/puree
• 15g dark chocolate [minimum 70% cocoa solids]
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 200ml good red wine
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Pinch ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 200ml boiling water
• Sea salt & ground black pepper
• Grated parmesan, to serve [optional]

How to...

1. Fry the onion in the olive oil until soft and transparent. Add the minced pork and cook for about 15 minutes.
2. Add the wine, bit by bit, evaporating it all in the process. When all the wine is used, water down the tomato paste in the boiling water and add it to the meat & onion mixture. Add the sugar, cinnamon, chocolate and season with salt & pepper. Give it a good stir and cover the pan and simmer on a very low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally. If needed add some boiling water to the sauce.
3. When the ragù is done, turn off the heat and add the chocolate, sugar and cinnamon.
4. Serve the ragù on the pasta or, alternatively mix the ragù with the pasta. Sprinkle with grated parmesan.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Ramanda's Cooking

Ramanda's Cooking, a set on Flickr.