A chicken treat

> Use honey, lemon juice and soy sauce to add a contrast of flavours to a baked meat and potato dish

BACK in the day when I did not have an oven, cooking for my family was rather limited to what I could make over the stove or in a crockpot. Now that I have an oven, besides baking cakes and cookies, I find it easy to prepare meals that can be cooked in one go, without having to wash too many pots and pans.

On lazy evenings, a one-dish kind of meal is the easiest to prepare. Stick it in the oven, turn on the timer and wait for it to cook.

Last week, I decided to make my family’s favourite baked chicken. Since I had only chicken drumsticks in my freezer, I used those, but you can also use chicken wings, thighs, or a whole chicken.

For the carbohydrate portion of our meal, I used some purple sweet potatoes which you could also substitute with regular potatoes.

The result of this recipe is chicken that has a slight tangy flavour from the lemon juice, complemented with the sweetish taste of the honey and dark soy sauce.

You can replace the gravy made from the marinade with bottled chilli sauce, or other sauces of your choice.

HONEY LEMON CHICKEN AND SWEET POTATO WEDGES Ingredients

6 chicken drumsticks (500g) Juice from ½ lemon 3 tbsp light soy sauce 2 tbsp dark soy sauce 3 tbsp honey

¼ tsp white pepper 1 tsp corn starch Chopped coriander 3 medium size sweet potatoes Salt and pepper to taste 3 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Mix the light and dark soy sauce, honey, lemon juice, coriander and pepper in a big plastic ziplock bag. Place the chicken drumsticks into the bag and shake well to mix the meat with the marinade. 2. Leave them to marinate for about two

hours, or overnight in the refrigerator. 3. Scrub the sweet potatoes clean under running water. Pat them dry and cut them into wedges about 1 ½ cm thick. 4. Place the wedges in a bowl, drizzle olive oil and sprinkle the salt and pepper over the wedges. Mix well. 5. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and preheat the oven to 200°C. 6. Use a large tray to accommodate both the wedges and chicken drumsticks to cook them at the same time if possible. 6. Place the potato wedges in a single layer on the baking tray. Remove the chicken drumsticks from the plastic bag and arrange them on the baking tray. 7. Bake the chicken drumsticks and wedges until cooked or for about 30 minutes. 8. While the chicken and wedges are baking, pour the remaining liquid marinade into a saucepan. Heat up the marinade. 9. Mix the corn starch with a little water and pour it into the marinade. Continue heating the marinade until it starts to thicken. 10. When thickened, remove from heat and pour into a bowl to be used as a gravy or dip. 11. Serve the chicken and wedges with the gravy and vegetables or salad of your choice.