This was nice – and simple – and flexible enough that I was able to use up some stuff I’d had sitting around the fridge (WHY did I ever buy that orange-mango juice?).
It, ermmm, also went surprisingly well with a bit of spaghetti tossed in a diavolo-ish sauce – just in case you were wondering.
The very nice folk at the old Gourmet magazine offered up this recipe as a perfect pairing with some sort of succotash. Yeh. I am good with the spaghetti.
INGREDIENTS
•2 tbsp chili powder
•1 tbsp honey
•1 tbsp fresh lime juice
•1 tsp salt
•1/2 tsp black pepper
•4 whole chicken legs, thighs and drumsticks separated – I just used 6 legs
I added a step and these ingredients:
•3 cups orange-mango juice (or plain OJ)
•1/2 tsp Aleppo, or crushed red pepper
A commenter on epicurious.com, the site offered up the suggestion of using orange juice, and mebbe adding some crushed red pepper to adjust for the extra sweetness. They then offered up the possibility of using this as an overnight marinade (!)
If you know me or follow this blog regularly, you KNOW that I am all about teh overnight marinating.
And. I had that juice in the fridge.
All-righty then, pop your chicken in a gallon zipper bag and pour in enough juice to cover. Add a nice sprinkling of red pepper, squish it all around, then set it aside in the fridge for – if you must – a few hours or – Best! – overnight.
When ready to prepare, heat oven to 425°.
Combine the chili powder, salt, and pepper with the honey and fresh lime juice in a large bowl – it’ll be really pasty.
Remove the chicken from the marinade (discarding the marinade), and roll in the honey and chili mixture to coat; mine was kinda clumpy, but it all baked up fine, so don’t worry about it – OR – I guess you could add a bit more lime juice or water to thin out the paste a bit.
Place the chicken on a rack placed in a foil-lined pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, turning after 15 minutes, until the chicken is well and truly done.
Nice.
Not too spicy, and the lime juice – along with that orange-mango marinade – give the chicken an unexpected bump.
If you’re not really feeling the love for serving this chicken with spaghetti, I am positive it would be just about perfect alongside some flat bread topped with cole slaw, or mebbe removed from the bone and turned into tacos. It’s all good.