Hi everyone. So, I was just thinking about this great Honey-Ginger Chicken dish that my friend, Abby, had made at our joint-dinner party a few years ago and I decided to get the recipe. I had no idea how few ingredients it required and how easy the prep was. It was almost too good to be true.
What is a joint-dinner party, you may ask? Well, necessity is the mother of invention; We have many mutual friends who had invited us both to many dinner parties and we wanted (and felt a social obligation) to reciprocate. Because we both had little kids at the time, it seemed daunting to invite everyone over for a bunch of Saturday nights. Since there was quite a bit of overlap of the friends, we decided to have them all over at once for one dinner party and we would share in the cooking. It worked out great and the shared work made it much more relaxing.
Here is the Indonesian Ginger Chicken Recipe , (can also be made with tofu), originally from the Barefoot Contessa. Make extra and freeze. Also, great for dinner parties, to bring to post partum friends or friends who need some tlc. If we think about it for a minute, we all have a few of those at all times.
Prep Time: 15 minutes, plus overnight marinating time
Cook Time: about 1 hour
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
1/2 it for one chicken
Indonesian Ginger Chicken:
1 cup honey
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup grated peeled fresh ginger root
1/4 cup minced garlic (8-12 cloves)
Two chickens, about 3 1/2 pounds each, quartered and backs removed (I used about 3 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs)Also, there was so much marinade that I threw in 1 lb of cubed tofu.
In a small saucepan, cook the honey, soy sauce, ginger and garlic over low heat until the honey is melted. Alternatively, you can combine the marinade ingredients in a microwave-safe container and heat for approximately 30 seconds on high, or until the honey is melted.
Place the chickens in a large, shallow roasting pan, skin side down, and pour on the sauce. Cover the pan tightly with foil and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the chicken, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan, turn the chicken skin side up, and increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake for 30 minutes more, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh and the sauce is a rich dark brown. Serve hot or cold.
6 Responses
This is probably not the right place to be putting this posting, but I actually have no idea how to blog, so forgive me if it belongs somewhere else. I wanted to share a recipe for a really quick and healthy dip, along the lines of Alma’s edamame dip. It’s from my friend Diane and she calls it “Green Pea Guacamole.” Here’s the recipe — I used nonfat greek yogurt but the recipe calls for regular greek yogurt. I think it may have had a little too much curry powder when I made it but Diane’s was perfect. Enjoy —
Green Pea Guacamole:
1 handful mint
juice from 2 limes
7 oz greek yogurt
7 oz peas
1 garlic clove
1/2 t curry powder
1/2 t cumin
salt and pepper to taste
Just put it all into the food processor and blend until smooth.
I remember how delicious that chicken was and what a great dinner party it was. I especially remember the care that went into making the appetizers. (Personally, I always just do cheese and easy dip because I don’t have the energy to make every aspect of the meal.) But I also remember being bummed that I got invited to one dinner party instead of two!
I am a big fan of the pot luck dinner party. Doesn’t serve the purpose of reciprocating others’ party invitations. It is, however, low stress, inexpensive and lots of fun. Everyone can show off a favorite dish, but nobody has the stress of preparing more than one thing. Your friends surprise you with their dishes. If someone doesn’t like to cook, they don’t have to – when isn’t ice cream a great addition to dessert? It is also a party that can be thrown together at the end of a summer day with whatever a few friends have on hand. Somehow, the variety always works itself into a rounded meal.
The Indonesian Ginger Chicken is tastes great-this method of cooking it makes the outside crisp and keeps the chicken moist. Also I made your Chinese Chicken Salad with Tofu and it was very easy and DELICIOUS.Thanks.
Alma –
Like you, I’m a big fan of healthy, home-made, easy, and delicious. I resort to one-pot meals on busy nights and thought I’d pass along this quick and easy family favorite courtesy of real simple magazine. Easy to make and easy to cleanup.
pan-roasted chicken with lemon-garlic green beans and red potatoes
hands-on time: 15 min
4 servings
6 T olive oil
1 juiced lemon
4 minced cloves of garlic
1 t kosher salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
3/4 lb trimmed green beans (I have used frozen)
8 sm red potatoes, washed and quartered
4 chicken breasts, bone-in with skin (3 1/4 lbs)
Preheat oven to 450 deg F.
Coat a large baking dish or cast-iron skillet with 1 T of the olive oil.
In a large bowl, whisk together remaining oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper.
Add green beans and toss to coat. Use tongs or slotted spoon to remove beans (shake off excess olive-oil lemon mixture into the bowl) and spread on bottom of pan.
Add potatoes to olive-oil lemon mixture and toss to coat. Use tongs or slotted spoon to remove potatoes (shake off excess olive-oil lemon mixture into the bowl) and spread on top of the beans.
Add chicken and coat thoroughly. Place the chicken, skin-side up, in the dish or skillet.
Pour any remaining olive-oil mixture over the chicken.
Roast for 50 minutes.
Remove the chicken and cover with foil.
Place the beans and potatoes back in the over for 10 more min or until potatoes are fork tender. Voila!
–sarah d.
I made the ginger chicken tonight for dinner & it was a big hit. I served it with a brown rice, asparagus, mushroom, etc. dish which i put together from a couple recipes. I’ve become so adventurous! Thanks, Alma