Just have to pass on a new recipe and dinner idea.   (Sorry no picture as of yet, I am camera deficient at the moment!)

I came across this little gem in an old neighborhood-type cookbook printed in 1976 and I think it’s a keeper.

The dinner idea is this chicken recipe with steamed vegetables and rice or a skillet of corn bread on the side.  I steamed broccoli, carrots and kale together and used the sauce from the chicken drizzled on the vegetables when I served them.

So here’s the chicken recipe:

Tasty Mountain Oven-Fried Chicken with Honey Butter Sauce

1 2 1/2 – 3 lb. chicken, cut up (or chicken pieces of your choice)

1 cup flour (I used rice flour but of course most any kind would work)

2 tsp. salt (Redmond’s Real salt)

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. paprika

1/2 cup butter

Put butter in a baking dish in the oven at 400º and let it melt while you mix up the dry ingredients. Coat both sides of the the chicken pieces by dipping them in the dry mixture.  Remove the pan from the oven. As pieces of chicken are put in the pan, turn them once to coat both sides with melted butter, then bake skin side down in a single layer.  Bake at 400º for 30 minutes.

While chicken is baking, mix these ingredients for the sauce:

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup lemon juice (I used the juice of one orange instead and it was very good.)

After the chicken has cooked for the first 30 minutes, remove from the oven, turn the pieces over and pour the sauce over the chicken.  Bake another 30 minutes or until tender.  Lower the temperature if the chicken starts looking too brown too fast.

Remember to buy the highest quality meat you can afford (hormone and chemical-free, free-range if possible) and organic vegetables if you can.  I have to travel to buy natural meats and I learned a little trick this week I wanted to share. Usually I put a big cooler in the car for these trips, but I forgot to get it in that morning. However, in the produce section of the store (Sprout’s Market in this case) I saw some insulated bags you can buy for about $3.50.  We invested in one and bought a bag of crushed ice for $1 and used it to take our perishables home in cool comfort.  The bag was in our trunk for five hours and the ice was still ice when we opened it at home! Granted it wasn’t an overly hot day, and we tried to stay in shady parking spots for the most part so I’m sure that helped, but even so I was impressed that the bag insulated the food so well. So, I’m just leaving the bag in my trunk and I’ll have it whenever I have the opportunity to get raw cheese, natural meats, raw milk or whatever because I want to keep it fresh!

What’s for dinner at your house?

Happy cooking!  It is truly love made visible.

Jacque