Baked Chicken with Honey-Whole-Grain Mustard Glaze

Serves 4
One Valentine's Day, I received a a text message from oldest son, Calder: . Calder's menu reflects a little bit of what he's learned from both parents—from Mom, a balanced meal of meat, starch, and a fresh, subtly flavored salad; from Dad, big, rich, buttery deliciousness infused wherever possible. Noteworthy is the way it was written down, which is a clue to how someone really thinks about cooking food outside the convention of "normal" recipe writing. My favorite part is the instruction to "make sure you save all those delicious, lemony, chickeny juices that collected in the pan." From the book "Mad Hungry," by Lucinda Scala Quinn (Artisan Books).

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken:

  • 8 chicken thighs
  • 1/2 cup olive oil (maybe more)
  • 1 lemon (juiced)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Some fresh herbs (if you have them)

For the glaze:

  • 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard (Calder also used maple mustard and a little Dijon)
  • 1 or 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • A little salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

  1. Marinate chicken in olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and herbs, for at least 1 hour and up to a day in advance. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Rub big baking pan with olive oil or butter, place thighs skin side down.
  2. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes and turn skin side up. Bake for 10 more minutes. To make the glaze, add mustard, honey, and oil in a bowl in that order, whisk, add salt and pepper, whisk some more. Apply glaze with brush or spoon and broil for 5 minutes.
  3. Take out and let rest for a second, and make sure you save all those delicious, lemony, chickeny juices that collected in the pan.
pantry
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Photo from "Mad Hungry with Lucinda Scala Quinn"