Monday, April 20, 2009

Test Kitchen: Dijon Chicken

I decided to start a new test kitchen series where I will make recipes solely out of cookbooks I already own. You see, I have a vast library of cookbooks because I’m a sucker for food photography and anything food related. Plus, I’m pretty sure my mother-in-law buys them in bulk for my Christmas gifts. No complaints here….just a lack of utilization. No more book neglect from this foodie.
Well, I didn’t get off to a great start using said library…instead, I grabbed a magazine I had saved for some reason from 2002: The Better Homes and Gardens Special Publication for 100 Comfort Cooking Recipes. I probably saved it because that sticky roll was winking at me.



I haven’t exactly set the rules for this Test Kitchen business… I suppose I should have to follow a recipe exactly out of my stash but, rules are made to be broken. So, recipe 25 out of 100 was for Chicken with Pasta Primavera. It called for roast chicken and vegetables over thin spaghetti and all in this mustard sauce. The mustard sauce was appealing and I already had the ingredients on hand. Plus, I really like mustard. And, I really like Dijon. All those people staring into the mustard shop like it, too, but I'm not a dork like that. I drool from across the street.


Anyway, thus was born Dijon Chicken and I think it already has a devout following in my house (which is a testament to it’s yumness since I made it like a day ago.) Basically, I just smothered the chicken in the mustard sauce before roasting. That’s it. A no brainer!

Dijon Chicken ( Adapted from Chicken with Pasta Primavera- Better Homes and Gardens Special Publication, 2002)

Serves 2 ( assuming you eat 2 ½ chicken drumsticks a piece, I’ll probably make 6 next time…awkwardness, ya know?)

5 Chicken drumsticks with skin on
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard ( Pardon me, will you pass the Grey Poupon?)
1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ tsp dried oregano, crushed
¼ tsp. celery salt
¼ tsp. dried thyme, crushed
A pinch of kosher salt (or, whatever, I just prefer my salt more coarse for this)
Fresh Ground Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix mustard, oil, oregano, celery salt, and thyme together.
Smear it all over your chicken in a baking dish roomy enough for the legs not to be touching.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 30 minutes.

I like to broil mine for about 2-3 more minutes to get browned, but that’s because browned bits rock my world.

For a quick side, I made some roasted red potatoes which are a cinch. Just quarter some red potatoes into bite size wedges, coat with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, season to taste and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. I seasoned with rosemary, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika (for a color boost…a trick I learned from Kay in the Netherlands.)

In the last 7ish minutes of baking time, I sautéed some asparagus in extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper in a frying pan. Put everything together and you have yourself instant comfort food pretty enough to even be company food! See, I saved that magazine for a reason, after all.

2 comments:

Tasha said...

FINALLY you post this recipe. I've been waiting.

Traveling Spork said...

Dude, so not what you're thinking of...this one is all new! But, yes, I need to do thatrecipe for ya. Where this is dark meat and roasted in dijon mustard, the OTHER is a floured breast and pan fried with a stone ground mustard sauce. I need to stop thinking about it.