Barefoot Bloggers - Indonesian Ginger Chicken

It seems like forever since I've done a Barefoot Bloggers recipe. I think the last one was the Stuffed Mushrooms (yum!) which I guess was only a couple of weeks ago, but it seems longer. Oh well.

When I saw that the first pick for the new year was Indonesian Ginger Chicken, I wasn't all that excited. Asian food, other than sushi, never sounds good to me. The thought of sweet and savory together usually doesn't appeal. I like my sweets and savories to each occupy their own little spaces. Separate but equal. No mixing.

And this recipe called for a LOT of sweet....an entire cup of honey. Eeek. I knew right away I'd be doing a little tweeking on this recipe. First of all, I don't like cutting up whole chickens, so I usually just by whole breasts and whole legs and call it a day. Which is what I did here. I halved the recipe and just used two breasts and two legs. Plenty for Mr. B and myself, with a little leftover. We like leftover. I also halved the amount of honey (1/4 cup). Sorry Ina, you like things a little sweet for me.

This was delicious! I have to confess and say I didn't give this the respect it deserved in the end. I put the chicken in the fridge to marinate on Tuesday morning and on Wednesday afternoon an impromptu Girl's Night Out materialized (who misses those??) which meant Mr. B was gonna have to fend for himself for dinner. I put the chicken in the oven and left him the baking instructions and flew out the door! Hey, margaritas were waiting. Don't judge.

I came home to perfectly cooked chicken. That man rocks. But.....that's all he had. Just chicken. No sides. And this would really shine with some perfect sides.....mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli.....I don't know, but it deserves some accompaniment.

This was easy and really, really GOOD. If you're like me and have sweet/savory issues, ignore yourself and make this. I can't wait to see what the other bloggers did with this. Thanks to Todd at A Cooking Dad for a great choice to start the new decade!

Here's the recipe:

Indonesian Ginger Chicken

Copyright, 1999, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Ingredients

1 cup honey
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup minced garlic (8 to 12 cloves)
1/2 cup peeled and grated fresh ginger root
2 (3 1/2 pound) chickens, quartered, with backs removed

Directions

Cook the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger root in a small saucepan over low heat until the honey is melted. Arrange the chicken in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan, skin side down, and pour on the sauce. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan, turn the chicken skin side up, and raise the temperature to 375 degrees F. Continue baking for 30 minutes or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh and the sauce is a rich, dark brown.