Honey Lemon Chicken

I was a little bit naughty and bought two food magazines this week, in my quest to create a meal plan for Mr RG and I which will help with our budget. Hmm. Spending money to make money?
I bought Good Taste magazine, and recipes+. I found lots of recipes that I’m keen to try in Good Taste, and have since shopping and am prepped to make them. I had less fun with recipes+, but that could just be my taste right now. I’ll come back to it another time.

The first recipe I’ve tried is from Good Taste – Honey Lemon Chicken (cover recipe). At quick glance it looked like a simple throw-everything-in-the-oven kind of  deal. I soon found out that it is if you don’t read the instructions that it looks this way! It wasn’t HARD to do, but it was harder than I though. I ended up with three saucepans on the go and a roasting pan in the oven, which is not my preferred weeknight cooking methodology.
HOWEVER, I would definitely try this recipe again.
I’m about to share this recipe with the interweb. Can someone please let me know if I’m breaching copyright by doing this? I’m not sure.
Honey Lemon Chicken
Serves 6. Prep. 15 mins. Cooking. 1 hour

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 6 chicken thigh pieces (I used Lilydale free range)
• 6 chicken drumsticks (Lilydale again. So worth it for flavour and texture – and for the the little chickens too).
• 80ml (1/3 cup) honey
• 80ml (1/3 cup) fresh lemon juice
• 60ml (1/4 cup) kecap manis
• 1 lemon, very thinly sliced
• 1  bunch baby carrots, peeled, ends trimmed
• 1 bunch baby pak choy, halved length ways
• steamed rice to serve (I used brown rice)

       
1. Preheat oven to 200 c. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken thigh pieces and cook for 4-5 mins each side or until brown. Transfer to a small roasting pan. Repeat with the chicken drumsticks, reheating the frying pan between batches.
2. Whisk the honey, lemon juice and kecap manis in a large jug until well combined.

3. Arrange the lemon slices on and around the chicken. Pour over the honey mixture. Bake, basting halfway through cooking, for 35mins or until chicken is cooked through and lemon is caramelised.

4. Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes or until just tender. Add the pak choy and cook for a further 1-2 mins or until the pak choy just wilts.
5. Transfer the chicken to a serving dish and cover with foil to keep warm. Pour the juices from the roasting pan into a small saucepan and bring to the boil over high heat. Boil for 3-4 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly.

6. Arrange the carrot and pak choy around the chicken. Serve with the sauce and rice.

My alterations:

• I also used broccoli for extra veg, which I added to the boiling water when the carrots were halfway cooked, followed by the pak choy.
• I didn’t bother with the serving dish and arranging the vegies on the chicken, I just dished it up!
• I didn’t slice my lemon thinly enough and it didn’t caramelise.

Taste: 5/5. The sauce is very tasty and the chicken was tender. I would try this with just thighs next time, as I find drumsticks to fiddly to eat.
Difficulty: 3/5. Easy to follow but fiddly in terms of lots of pots on the go.
Freeze-friendly?: I will let you know! We froze four portions complete with rice and vegies. We shall see.