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

Chicken in a Sweet & Spicy Peanut Sauce

Satay chicken is a common favourite amongst oriental food lovers. This recipe is very similar to Satay. In our opinion it tastes better :) So if you are a fan of Satay, you would love this!! There may be lots of ingredients but this sauce is very easy and quick to prepare. We roast the chicken in the oven and then throw it in the pan with the sauce so the meat can suck up the sauce...yum yum...finger licking good!!! We serve this with Peshwari Naan [Indian Naan bread with coconut and sultanas], but you can serve it with boiled Basmati rice, mashed potatoes or even noodles. So here is what you will need...

• 4 large chicken legs
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp groundnut oil or vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
• 5 tbsp runny honey
• 2 level tsp Dijon  or wholegrain mustard 
• 2 cardamom pods, crushed with a knife
• A dash of chilli sauce
• 1 tsp medium curry powder
• 200ml chicken stock
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven at 190°C.
2. Cut the chicken legs in half so as you have 4 drumsticks and 4 thigh pieces. Put in an oven dish, baste them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put in the preheated oven and cook for about 45 minutes.
3. When the chicken is nearly ready, about 15 minutes from the end of cooking time, start preparing the sauce by melting the butter and frying the onion and garlic until soft and transparent. Add the honey, crushed cardamom pods, curry powder, mustard, chilli sauce and chicken stock. Stir well and cook until the mixture starts bubbling.
4. Now turn down the heat and add the peanut butter and stir well to incorporate the peanut butter into the mixture. 
5. The chicken pieces should be done by now. Take them out of the oven and carefully put them into the pan with the sauce. Cover and simmer on low heat for a couple of minutes, turning once. 
6. Turn off the heat and serve.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Penne Parnassus

This pasta dish is another of our own creations. It got its name from the movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. We were watching this great movie whilst chomping on a wonderful plate of this dish. It is a very tasty sauce and quite filling as well. The honey gives this sauce its sweetness whilst the bacon balances the palate by providing the necessary saltiness. Also, as cooked chicken, I roasted 4 small drumsticks, took the meat off the bone and diced the chicken meat. It gave the dish  an added delicious roast chicken flavour, but you can easily used chicken breast. These ingredients are for 3-4 people, again depending on how big your portions are. Feel free to adapt adequately. Hope you will try it and enjoy it!

• 300g penne
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 200g diced cooked chicken breast
• 100g bacon, cut into small pieces
• 100ml single cream
• ½ teaspoon dried sage
• 200ml chicken or vegetable stock (I used a Knorr stock pot)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Ground black pepper, to taste
• Grated Parmesan or Kefalotiri cheese, to serve

How to...

1. Start by roasting the chicken drumsticks. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Put them in an oven dish with a griddle in it and season with ground black pepper. Roast the chicken pieces for 30 minutes, leave to cool and dice the meat. If using chicken breast, grill the split the chicken breast until golden on both sides and then chop into small dice. Set aside.
2. Fry the onion in the oil until transparent and soft. Add the bacon and cook until brown and crispy.
3. Add the chicken to the bacon and stir well.
4. Add the pepper, sage and 2 tbsp of honey. Stir fry for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the stock and reduce the stock on a high heat.
6. In the meantime cook the pasta.
7. When the stock is reduced, add the cream. Stir well and heat slowly on low heat, make sure you do not boil the cream.
8. Mix the sauce with the cooked pasta and sprinkle with the grated parmesan or Kefalotiri cheese.

Enjoy!!
R&A