When I was growing up my favorite sauce to use with my chicken nuggets would always be the sweet and tangy honey mustard. Now as an adult, I still find myself gravitating to that same sauce whenever I have some chicken tenders or the like, and wondered if anyone has come up with a more grown-up, less sweet version that I could incorporate into a somewhat healthy recipe that I could create at home. Well Brittany managed to find a great recipe at Matters of the Belly that fit the bill (and has some fantastic photos too) what follows is a rendition of her recipe and my attempt to capture some similar images as I progress in my photography journey.
Like the majority of my cooking endeavors, this one starts out with my trusty Lodge cast iron skillet
You will start by sautéing the onions over medium-high heat tossed in some olive oil and a dash of black pepper until they start to brown and soften up a bit. Once they are nice and browned, remove from the heat and arrange your potato slices around the pan (you don’t have to make them look pretty like I did).
One side note about the potatoes: the type you choose is paramount to the success of this dish, as you can see in my photos, I used russets… Don’t use russets… They are what we had in the pantry and worked for the most part, but this dish would have been 10x better had we used some Yukon golds instead! The dish was on the healthy side for the most part and needed that buttery texture to round out the experience rather than the airy baked-potato feel that accompanied the russets.
Once your potatoes are arranged all pretty (or not) drizzle some olive oil over the top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover your skillet with tinfoil and place in the oven (390°F) for 15-20 minutes until your potatoes are fork-tender.
While the potatoes are in the oven, start making the sauce by combining all ingredients in a small bowl or jar and adjust to taste.
After the potatoes are done, remove the foil and arrange your pieces of chicken around the pan in a circular pattern to ensure even cooking. Cover them with your sauce and place a few sprigs of rosemary alongside the chicken before covering with tinfoil again, then place the pan back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
Once your timer goes off, remove the tinfoil and hit that broil button to watch the magic happen! The rosemary pops and fizzes under the intense heat and turns a brown color as it releases a fine mist of aromatic goodness that imbues itself into the chicken to give it a wonderful flavor. Continue to broil for about 15 minutes, or until the tops of the chicken just start to brown.
Honey-Mustard and Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2-3 potatoes (depending on size of pan), cut into thin wedges or sliced
- 2 chicken breasts, cut into thick strips (or use tenderloins)
- 2 medium onions, finely diced
- A small bunch of fresh rosemary
- Olive oil
- Salt & pepper
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 3 tbsp. grainy mustard
- Juice of a large lemon
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 2-3 tbsp. honey
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 390F
- In an oven-safe skillet, cook the onions in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat on the stove until softened and starting to brown, about 10 min.
- Take off the heat and arrange your potato slices on top in an even layer. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Cover loosely with foil and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until softened.
- Meanwhile, mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl or jar . Taste and adjust according to your preference; if you like more acidity add more lemon, more sweetness add more honey etc.
- Take the pan out of the oven and arrange your raw chicken on top of the potatoes in an even layer. Pour the prepared sauce on top, making sure everything is coated. Throw a few sprigs of rosemary around the chicken, cover again with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove the foil and turn on your oven’s broiler on high and bake for a further 15 minutes until nicely browned. Serve immediately.