I woke up Sunday morning, and instead of a late spring/early summer breeze wafting thru my window, it was cold, clammy and raining. It’s Memorial Day weekend, but feels like fall!
Forget the tuna salad I was planning to make today, I needed something hot, sweet & spicy—Asian something.
But I have no rice—no onions, no green or red peppers. I DO have one large potato, some baby carrots on their last legs & some very frozen chicken parts.
Honey Soy Chicken w/mashed potatoes
- 1/3 cup honey (whew I had just enough!)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (I love this stuff but be careful, a little goes a long way)
- 1 teaspoon ginger (powdered)
I let the chicken thaw out some in my refrigerator, then Sunday night I placed 2 semi-fozen thighs and 2 drumsticks in a glass baking dish. Mixed up my overnight-marinade to pour over the chicken.
I covered it with TWO sheets of cling-wrap, so the very pungent garlic wouldn’t get into my milk and put it in the refrigerator overnight. The next time you see this dish, it’s going to be coming out of the oven!
NEXT DAY: I removed the glass baking dish from the fridge, let it sit on the counter for 15 minutes (to get to room temp) then removed the plastic and placed in a preheated 375F oven. Cooked it 30 minutes, flipped the chicken parts, cooked another 30 mins. Doesn’t it look tasty?
I know this isn’t pretty, but the chicken was very flavorful and that sauce went well with everything. if I was entertaining, I’d put a sprig of parsley or something green on the plate. I’m not a total caveman, y’know—I just eat like one!
Now you have done it. I'm hungry. If I had those ingredients( I have a few of them but not enough) I'd try it to kick start this too cool, rainy day. I totally admire how you just jump in and make something really good out of possibly throw away ingredients. Kudos Doug.
ReplyDeleteHaha--Patti, thanks very much and you get a bonus star because aside from the oil, most of this stuff WAS near throwaway! :^) I hope you come up with something tasty on your own rainy day!
DeleteLooks absolutely delish, Doug! (especially the potatoes, carrots and sauce) Now what beverage would you serve with it? Looks like a glass of ice water on the table.
ReplyDeleteFlorence I know you're a vegan, so I appreciate your comment and btw, I honesty thought of you as the sauce (honey, soy & garlic) was perfect on those carrots. :) I actually had a tall icy glads of lemon water, I just figured all these flavors I needed something "cleansing".
DeleteWe had the same cold rainy weather. And the same thought: Asian something. So we did Chinese takeout. It was pretty good; but your looks better.
ReplyDeleteHaha thanks Tom, you're too kind.. but the thing is, I'm still craving Chinese take out! :)
DeleteMy wife has the knack of looking at things in need of something and turning them into a dish. I don't unfortunately. Seems like you have the knack though.
ReplyDeleteEd I'm sure your wife is a lot better than me, but thanks man :^)
DeleteGood for you Doug! I made the same sauce for some old, frozen breaded chicken I had in the freezer. I had originally thought that I had some frozen chicken wings in my freezer and was planning to use the sauce on them but that wasn't the case. Your chicken looks like it is much better tasting than mine as my chicken itself was dry but the sauce helped with the taste. You've given me the idea though to try the sauce on regular frozen/thawed chicken. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Sue, I bet you'll enjoy it a lot more on ordinary chicken. The skin isn't crispy, if I could do it over again I would've broiled the chicken for 3-4 minutes before taking it out of the oven. But it was still pretty good. :^)
DeleteThat looks absolutely delicious! You should invite someone over for lunch or dinner sometime. Get used to entertaining.
ReplyDeleteGigi coming from you, that means a lot--thanks! Well, I'm not the cook (or host) you are, but I want to give it a try soon. :^)
DeleteI am always amazed at the meals you prepare! You are quite the chef! I may have to borrow your recipe if you don't mind.
ReplyDeleteHaha Bonnie you are too kind (more please, haha!) As for the recipe, I got it from combining a couple I found online, but it did turn out pretty good, so be my guest. :^)
DeleteThat does look good! We have your heat and you have our chilly weather. I would happily exchange!
ReplyDeleteThanks Margaret, and guess what--I knew you were going to say that! What the heck! I hope everyone has gotten settled in at Hotel Le Margaret :^)
DeleteI really like honey-soy chicken as well. However, I cheat and get it from my local butcher already prepared. They also do a lemon-garlic version as well that’s just as good.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad you published your recipe; I’ll prepare that and compare it to the butcher’s version.
No rice! I get twitchy when my rice supply dips under a kilogram. There are usually onions too, but everything else I like to get fresh.
Peter you just inspired me--I MUST make lemon garlic chicken next! Anyway, I have a local deli that makes hot foods, I was just there thinking I need to try some of their dishes. And yep, I hate being without rice or onions too. You're my bachelor brother :)
DeleteIt looks pretty enough to me, pretty enough to eat for sure. With winter coming fast it will be time for me to do more oven baking so my home smells warm and comforting. Honey soy chicken definitely, but I buy the ready-made marinade and just add extra minced garlic.
ReplyDeleteThank you River, much appreciated--and this is ironic as my friend Peter T said the same about buying the honey soy without making it--and he's from Australia like you. :^)
DeleteYou totally amaze me with your cooking and your baking, Doug! You are definitely a concept cook like Art. I need a recipe that goes down to 1/16th of a teaspoon. What the heck is a dash anyway?
ReplyDeleteMy mother-in-law used to do a handful of this and a handful of that. People told me she was a master baker whose pies were in high demand. (They had a mom and pop restaurant.) Art learned from her. When we got married a couple of friends gave me cookbooks as wedding presents. They KNEW I did not know my way around a kitchen.
I so admire how you can figure things out and make these amazing dishes. I am good at washing dishes though.
Thanks Kay. you always make me laugh! Well, I'm VERY sure I'm not a cook like Art, but when you live alone like I do, you dont have to worry about making someone sick ;^) Anyway, 1/16th of a teaspoon..haha! Is there such a thing??
DeleteSorry I'm late commenting here. Sometimes life gets busy (not sure 'how' seeing we're retired). Just adding PT to our life schedule seems to overwhelm us. But what I have to say isn't too relevant anyway... Your dish looks great! However, I am getting a bit tired of chicken. We eat it a lot - chicken salad, chicken and pasta, chicken and sausage gumbo, chicken nuggets, chicken pot pie, etc. I bought a sirloin steak for the first time in ages (beef is way too expensive these days), but I will marinade it in bourbon and it will be a change. We do fish and pork, but not a lot. I do love salmon, but no one else in the house does. I'm probably just burnt out after this pandemic year of staying home and cooking 24/7.
ReplyDeleteRian please don't apologize, thank you for your comment--but I get you in regards to getting too busy sometimes, I had one appt today at 10 and my whole day feels thrown out of whack. Anyway, this made me laugh because the more tired you get of chicken, the hungrier you make ME for it! :) Your sirloin sure sounds good too. :) Hope you're able to get out more real soon!
DeleteHi Doug, everything looks delicious! Love how you improvise.
ReplyDeleteIt felt like Fall here this past weekend too. I had mitts on for my early morning walk. Didn’t last long and now we are in for a week of HOT weather.
Enjoy your evening!
Robin
Hey Robin, nice to hear from you! Thanks very much for your kind comment, and haha my gosh about the mittens but I believe it! I'm not a big fan of the hot either, I just want a happy medium--we're getting there :^)
DeleteSome people think they are late by writing a comment on June 2. And here it is June 5th and I'm just now getting around to commenting. It looked really good to me, and I rarely eat chicken at all. You are certainly an adventurous cook, I have to say! :-)
ReplyDeleteHaha thanks DJan, I don't see comments as late--that makes them sound obligatory. But thank you for the adventurous comment, I was thinking about you earlier today on one of the treadmills downstairs. Incline 4, Speed 2, I did 1.75 miles and thought "How does DJan do it?" I was tuckered out!
DeleteYou are a Culinary Jedi making something Sublime out of whatever you happen to have on hand my Friend! It looks delicious, with only those ingredients I probably would have given up and gone out to eat. *winks*
ReplyDeleteHaha! Thanks Bohemian, you sure have a way with words! And TRUST ME,if I had had a teaspoon less of honey or it wasn't raining, I would've given up too ;^)
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