We eat a lot of chicken in our house. Chicken and fish. Red meat only makes a rare appearance. We sometimes go weeks without eating red meat until a craving hits.
Then I am more than likely to choose a good steak, or some chops or sausages. But that's a whole 'nother story. Today we're talking about chicken!
I confess that I am not overly fond of drumsticks . . . thighs and breasts, they are my favourites. The breasts because they lend themselves to all sorts of quick cooking methods and are so adaptable.
The thighs because they are tender and juicy. Today however, we had chicken leg quarters, which contained both the drumstick and thighs.
These chicken pieces are beautiful flavoured by marinating them in a spicy marinade. I like to use a sharp knife and cut slashes into the chicken pieces so that those delicious flavours really penetrate the meat.
This is only something which I started doing over these past few years and I have to say it really does make a difference. The meat somehow ends up really tender as well.
The marinade itself is very simple . . . sweet paprika (not hot or smoked), dry mustard powder, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and olive oil. Simple.
Simple flavours, expertly combined. Really flavour-filled.
I bet you have all of those things in your house right now. You just mix them all together and then rub them into your chicken pieces.
Then leave them to marinate, covered in the refrigerator.
Half an hour will do the job. But, as with any kind of marinade, the longer you keep the chicken in it, the chicken will absorb more of the flavours.
I think at least an hour or two is better.
Its a bit spicy and a lot tasty . . . trust me on this.
I bake it in the oven covered for about an hour at a lower temperature, and then I uncover the meat, increase the heat and finish it off for a quick roasting 15 to 20 minutes should do it.
This helps to brown if off a bit and get that tasty skin really nice and crisp.
The end result is very tender and juicy chicken. The flavours are excellent. The skin nice and crispy.
In short, chicken perfection. And I know my chicken.
Of course, if you are against chicken skin, you can discard the skin after cooking, but once in a while, I think a bit of chicken skin is a.o.k
Especially if it is as nicely flavoured and crispy as this! My sister does shake and bake chicken with skin on chicken thighs and it is to die for. My father just loves it.
I served it simply with some mashed roasted sweet potatoes that were baking in the oven along side of those delicious chicken pieces, and some sauteed rainbow chard.
Actually funny story of the chard. I went to sprinkle on it what I thought was pepper, but it ended up being cinnamon. Quite different! I've had worse!
Yield: 4
Mustard Baked Chicken
Fabulously tasty chicken! You marinate in a tangy marinade for at least 1/2 hour prior to baking to perfection! Finger-licking good!
ingredients:
- 4 chicken bone-in leg/thigh quarters (chicken pieces with both leg and thigh attached)
- 1/2 TBS sweet paprika
- 1 tsp dry mustard powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 TBS olive oil
instructions:
How to cook Mustard Baked Chicken
- Trim any excess fat from the chicken quarters and discard. Cut some slashes into the tops of them on both the thigh and the drumstick sections with a sharp knife. Place into a container. Whisk together all of the remaining ingredients until well-blended. Rub into the chicken in the container, coating it on all sides. Cover and place into the refrigerator to marinate, for at least a half an hour, or up to 8 hours maximum, turning them over in the marinade every now and then.
- Preheat the oven to 165*C/325*F/gas mark 3.
- Lay the chicken pieces, skin side up in a baking dish large enough to hold them. Brush and drizzle any marinade over the chicken on the tray. Cover tightly with aluminium foil.
- Roast in the preheated oven for one hour. Increase the oven temperature to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Uncover the chicken and roast for a further 10 to 20 minutes, or until the chicken is crisp and glazed and the juices run clear when pricked with a fork.
- Serve hot with your favourite accompaniments.
You can see how juicy, succulent and flavourful that chicken is! It went down a real treat!
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