"Maneating" Chicken - or Chicken in a maple syrup & mustard glaze.

We were really looking forward to sampling this Maneating Chicken.  No, really!

Hubby had been browsing through Pinterest again and had been enticed by the fantastic photograph and the title of "Man-pleasing Chicken".  The photograph linked back to a lovely blog called wittyinthecity.com which has lots of interesting looking (and sounding) recipes.

The recipe was simplicity itself - basically make up a maple syrup/Dijon mustard/white wine vinegar mix to go over your chicken pieces - then in the oven they go.

The smell of the chicken cooking was completely mouthwatering and bode well for the eating.

Snuggled up in a bath of mustardy goodness

I think hubby was a little bit disappointed in the end result, as I can't help feeling that he was hoping for something more than the simplicity of the mix.  However - and this is testament to the big flavours that were going on there - when son & heir took his first taste, his brow wrinkled and he exclaimed "wasabi!".

Amazingly, I could see exactly where he was coming from with his horseradish/wasabi comment, as the combination of the slightly smokiness of the maple syrup with the warmth and earthy tanginess of the Dijon mustard had definitely combined into something reminiscent of wasabi.  Son & heir wasn't entirely sold on the idea - horseradish is a fairly new flavour for him, so he was a little bit challenged by it.

As for me, well, I loved it.  I loved the flavours, I loved the texture of the baked chicken, I loved the look of it - everything.  I'd have been very happy to have had the exact same dinner the next day, too!

Hubby cooked an interesting side dish of sesame green beans and broccoli, which I also loved and could have eaten a whole lot more than was on my plate - but mustn't be greedy.  The roasted sweet potato cubes were lovely and although it didn't look like there was much on the plate (hubby's view, not mine!), I definitely felt that I'd eaten a complete meal by the end of it.

I guess if you're a bit nervous of the "horseradish effect", the thing to do would be to substitute honey for the maple syrup.  After all, a honey mustard glaze is a classic - and done this way, just can't go wrong.

MANEATING CHICKEN  (feeds 3)

Ingredients :

3 skinless boneless chicken breasts (or the equivalent in leg pieces)
half a cup of Dijon mustard
quarter of a cup of Maple syrup
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
two sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped finely.

Method :

1.  Pre-heat your oven to 180degC/350degF/Gas4.

2.  In a bowl, combine the Dijon mustard, Maple syrup and white wine vinegar.  Mix well.

3.  Take each chicken breast and cut into three pieces.  Place into a suitably sized oven dish that will enable the chicken to lay in a pool of the mustard mixture.

4.  Sprinkle each with a little seasoning, then pour over the mustard mixture and turn the chicken pieces, making sure that each piece of chicken is well coated.

5.  Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, basting half way through, until the edges of the meat are beginning to char slightly and the chicken demonstrates no pinkness when a knife is slipped into it.

6.  Allow the chicken to rest for 5 or so minutes before serving.

7.  Make sure to spoon any extra sauce over the top of the chicken, as it is way too good to leave in the pan!  Sprinkle on a little of the rosemary, add your choice of vegetables and serve.

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