Chicken with Maple Mustard Glaze and Curried Rice Salad

There was plenty of kitchen witchin' going on yesterday in our house and much like a good marriage last night's two dishes truly completed each other.

Skinless boneless chicken thighs, marinated in a mixture of maple syrup, Dijon mustard, soy sauce lemon and garlic then grilled until perfect juicy little morsels all shined up with more maple glaze and sittin' pretty on top of a rice salad with plenty of attitude - well the whole thing was a meal made in heaven and once again the result of perfect teamwork.

The Big Guy's last business trip to Saratoga race track in New York resulted in another cookbook for my collection and he sure knows how to pick them! This one's the "Maple Syrup Cookbook" by Ken Haedrich and you'll be hearing about it a lot during the course of this coming week as I've planned menus that include the liquid gold he specifies.

So head on out to your favorite market and pick up a bottle of the good stuff - no substitutions please. We prefer Grade B dark maple syrup because of its intense rich flavor, but a Grade A amber either light, medium or dark will do just as well. Just don't be thinkin' about using Mrs. Butterworths because although it's a fine product it won't cut it this week. Capiche?

Chicken with Maple Mustard Glaze on a Curried Rice Salad

Maple Mustard Chicken (adapted from The Maple Syrup Cookbook by Ken Haedrich)

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

5 tablespoons Dijon mustard

4 teaspoons soy sauce

Juice of one lemon

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

2-1/2 to 3 pounds chicken pieces (I used skinless boneless thighs)

Combine maple syrup, mustard, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic and pepper in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat a cool to room temperature.

Rinse and dry chicken well. Place in a large zip bag with half of the maple mustard glaze, reserving the other half for use when grilling. Refrigerate chicken for minimum 2 hours, turning bag half way through to distribute marinade.

Grill chicken over medium hot coals, basing with the remaining sauce until juices run clear when meat is pierced with a fork (about 20 minutes for skinless boneless thighs). Watch carefully so chicken doesn’t burn. Makes 4 servings.

Curried Rice Salad (adapted from simplyrecipes.com)

1 cup basmati rice cooked per package directions

2 tablespoons Madras or Trinidad curry powder

1/4 cup olive oil

Dash cumin and cayenne

1 large onion, chopped

3 stock celery, diced

1 green pepper, diced

3 green onions, chopped

1 cup raisins or currents, or a combination of the two

1/2 cup dried cranberries (optional)

1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped parsley

2 tablespoons honey or to taste

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Cook rice according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a medium sauté pan. Add curry powder, cumin and cayenne and cook for 30 seconds. Add chopped onion and cook, stirring occasionally until onion is transparent. Transfer to a large bowl and toss with cooked rice. Cool to room temperature. Add remaining ingredients and chill until serving time. Download Chicken with Maple Mustard Glaze on a Curried Rice Salad

A year ago - Viva Italia!

  
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Comments

[Mary from Apron Strings & Wedding Rings]

Now this is a great sounding and looking chicken June! Autumn tease for me! Going on vacation to the Berkshires at the end of the month. My daughter is flying in from Chicago to join us along with my son Nick. I will be making this chicken for them for sure! HUGS, Mary L.

[June]

Mary - I'm so happy that you're finally getting a vacation and how nice to spend it with family. Hope you have a great time and that the chicken is a hit! Hugs back atcha!

[Lea]

looks fabulous - moist and juicy and tender and yummy and just plain good!

[June]

Lea - it is great and even better as leftovers.

[Lorraine]

You had me at Curry!

[June]

Lorraine - this would be a good one to bring for lunch too. Never mind lunch - I had some salad yesterday for breakfast. LOL

[Lorraine]

Had to take a second look. The colors of this dish just keep sucking me in. The deep richness of the chicken and the yellow and greens of the salad...wow!

[June]

Lorraine - it's true that we eat with our eyes first isn't it? The flavors of this one will keep you coming back too.

[Shaun]

Mmm this was lovely, my daughter and I had it for tea last night. We dont use maple syrup much over here so I got the only brand I could but it worked out fine. The only change I made was having hot rice due to the weather starting to get colder now, fried it first with the veg and spices then added stock and boiled till al dente. Great glaze, I'll be using it on oven baked sausages from now on too.

[June]

Shaun - it really tickles me that you cook things I've blogged about and even more that you let me know by leaving a comment. I absolutely love hearing from you and how you've changed things to make them your own. I recall that maple syrup isn't common where you are - no doubt due to climate. It surely must be priced as "liquid gold".

[Shaun]

Its not too bad, I paid £4.45 for a 275g bottle of pure Canadian syrup, cheaper ones are mixed with carrob syrup!!! We tend to use honey more in our dressings and marinades over here but my daughter and girlfriend were very happy with their scottish pancakes drizzled in maple gold the other morning...lol. Oh and I did use the marinade/dressing on some baked herby Lincolnshire sausages last night, basted them regularly and they were a gorgeous sticky tasty treat with some horseradish mash!

[June]

Shaun - Wow. That is maple gold for sure but thankfully a little goes a long way. I bet the Lincolnshire sausages were fabulous. I came back with a cookbook loaded with sausage recipes during one of my trips to the British Isles many moons ago. I MUST start testing a few.