Easy Spiced Chicken

I'm not talking hot and spicy. It's quite mild and sweet and the kids will love it. It's from my '70s cookbook which I'm loving at the moment. Such simple recipes, basic, wholesome, and with real ingredients like plenty of butter and salt. You'll need to start this recipe about an hour before dinner.

I use chicken legs that come in a 1.5 kg bag from the local cornerstore. It's real free-range (I've been to the farm) and they don't use chemicals. And somehow they're very economical, about $6 a bag. You could also buy a chicken and chop it into about 8 pieces. If you do, make sure you save that precious carcass for stock.

So, crank up your oven first, to 190deg C. Put your roasting tin on top of the stove on moderate heat, and melt 1/4 cup of butter in it. When the foam dies down add half a cup of honey, 12 teaspoons of German mustard, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of mild curry powder. Mix well together. I don't actually know what they mean by German mustard (but it may mean mild). I just use the grainy stuff in a jar that I keep in the fridge. Seems to work fine.

Take it off the heat and add your chicken pieces. Roll them around so they're coated in the lovely mixture you've made. Arrange them in the tin so they're side by side, and throw them in the oven. Bake for about an hour, or until the meat is tender. You can open the oven every now and then to baste the meat.

Serve it up to your hungry family with some potatoes or rice, and maybe some green beans (which you have skillfully cooked in the meantime). Pour the runny mixture over top of everything, and your family will praise your culinary genius. So will your accountant. This meal does us twice over, so I reckon it costs about $5-$6 each meal. Yum.

Chicken, avocado, pancakes...

BBQ-d chicken wings. Mmmm. Tasty. First they were rubbed in olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano from the garden. Simple. I think the great flavour is due a lot to our new Webber BBQ. It works a treat. Eating off it is a treat. We also had a fresh garden salad, and potato-bake straight out of the oven. That was dinner. Potato bake is so simple. Slice potatoes into baking dish. Salt and pepper, top with cheese, and pour a cup of cream through it. Lots of good fat in the cream and cheese (raw is best).

Lunch was .... gee it's harder to remember than I thought ... ahh yes, we did an easy lunch of avocado on freshly baked sourdough bread. Spread with lots of butter first, topped with a pinch of salt. We also had a banana smoothie (raw milk, coconut oil, banana, vanilla, honey). Lots of good fat in that too.

Working backwards - breakfast was pancakes. I felt like savoury so I fried some veges (onions, carrots, zucchinis, broccoli) in coconut oil and butter, and along with a fried egg, put them on the pancakes. By the way the flour for pancakes was freshly ground the night before, then soaked in yoghurt overnight. Add an egg, salt and baking powder in the morning and you're ready to go.
Yum. Good food. All cheap and easy. Lots of fat.