Julie’s Too Good To Be True Honey Mustard Chicken

Winner, winner, chicken dinner and if this is wrong I don’t want to be right were my two other obvious choices for this particular recipe.  Kudos first of all to my friend Julie who introduced this to my family a few months back.  I was out of town for an extended period caring for an ill relative, and my community of friends and neighbors closed the circle and sent ALL THE GOOD FOOD to my family to share the love and send support.  ALL THE GOOD FOOD means that my son was able to report all manner of deliciousness arriving to our house most nights for dinner.  

Let me tell you, in this age of social networking and smartphones and no one ever actually having to interact in person unless they want too, having friends and neighbors who care enough about you to bring real cooked food to your house is a blessing beyond measure.  Read this, and then put down your phones and go join a small group.  Book club, wine tasting, church, knitting, cooking, French, yoga, dog walking, just meet some people and make some new friends.

Ok, I digress.  The chicken.  After I got home and life started to get back to normal, I asked my family if there were any particularly good meals that they wanted me to get the recipe for, and this was my 17 year old’s instant request.  “Your friend Julie brought this chicken and it was SOOOO good.  Make that.”

Julie very kindly gave me the recipe saying it was indeed a family favourite, and further credited the “Best of Bridge Cookbook” as its point of origin, as an FYI Best of Bridge has 10000 results on Amazon, so good luck with that.

I did not actually make the chicken until this morning, and now I regret waiting so long.  My house smells like ALL THE GOOD FOOD lives here and the chicken itself is so good I wanted to cry.  Really good, really easy too make.  This might be the Careless Whisper of chicken because I’m never not going to make this again.  Or maybe the Rick Astley of chicken because I am never going to give this up. Instant favourite.  Everybody make plans and leave the house tonight, I’m making the chicken and there will be no sharing.  That good.  Trust me.

So, off track again.  The recipe. As written by the soon to be famous for her chicken, Julie:

Honey Mustard Chicken from the Best of Bridge cookbook:

3 lbs. chicken pieces (I usually make 6 skinless boneless chicken breasts)

1/2 cup liquid honey

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup dijon mustard (I use PC honey dijon mustard)

2-4 tsp. curry powder

pinch cayenne pepper

Place chicken in single layer in large ovenproof dish. Combine honey, butter, mustard, curry powder and cayenne. Pour over chicken. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees farenheit for 20 minutes, basting once. Turn pieces over (I don’t do this), baste again and bake another 20 minutes, or until pieces are no longer pink inside. Serves 4 – 6.  

I usually baste after 10 min, 20 min and total cooking time is 40 minutes. I serve with white basmati rice and salad. Really easy, really fast and only 6 ingredients. Enjoy!
I myself made a double batch because I had a Costco pack of drumsticks that I wanted to cook ahead for the week.  Five pounds of drumsticks, two baking sheets, sauce spooned over top and no turning or basting because I’m lazy today.  It didn’t matter, I’d fight leprechauns for it because it was magically delicious.

Ok I think I’m done with the pop culture puns. I just couldn’t help myself.  I never said I was a food photographer, so my apology for my ongoing picture quality issues, but look at the chicken anyway.  It’s beautiful.  

If loving you is a crime, lock me up and throw away the key.