Recipe: Homemade Honey Mustard Sauce and Roasted Honey Mustard Chicken

I don’t know if honey  mustard exists in Italy but I’ve never seen it in the stores. Luckily, when the craving for the rich, sweet, tangy flavor hit me, I had honey and mustard at home and let’s face it, I’m also quite good at concocting random things in the kitchen.

I used my honey mustard as a glaze for chicken and with a few easy tweaks, I also used it as a dressing for my salad as well.

Honey Mustard (to make glaze and dressing)

My perfect honey mustard blend with basil

Equal parts honey and mustard, about a ¼ cup each

1-2 tbs basil (or rosemary, either works beautifully)

2 tbs olive oil

I chose to make relatively large quantities of the dressing because I had grand plans for my sauce (salads, dipping sauce, glaze) but you can also make it in smaller batches, you absolutely can. 

When I mix my honey mustard, I tend to add a little bit more mustard than honey, because I like the tang of the mustard just a little more than the sweetness of the honey.

Mix your honey, mustard, basil (or rosemary) and oil together well.  At this point you can serve it as a dipping sauce  or use it as a glaze for meat. Or you can add another tablespoon of olive oil to thin it down and use it as a dressing.

Made with Rosemary

Once you’ve made your honey mustard you can make your chicken. 

Honey Mustard Chicken

1 small roaster chicken, completely defrosted or fresh

½ mixture of honey mustard

1 tbs olive oil

Additional basil (or rosemary)

Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 200°C (around 350°F I think).

Coat the chicken with honey mustard on both sides. Really coat it well and sprinkle with additional basil (or rosemary) and pepper.  I chose not to use salt because the mustard already has plenty of salt in it. Rub the spices, honey mustard and an additional drizzle of oil into the chicken.

When the oven is hot, put the chicken into the oven and let the chicken roast slowly. Turn when the skin has begun to turn golden brown.  Repeat.

In total, the bird cooked for about 45 minutes to an hour.  Watch the bird carefully to make sure it doesn’t burn, because each oven is different. The chicken is done when the juices start to run clear. Don't let it overcook because chicken dries out quite easily. It's much better juicy!

Honey mustard and chicken made with basil

The first time I made this, I served my chicken with sauteed spinach and a salad—mixed greens, tomato, red onion and cheese with a light vinaigrette. I also had slow roasted potatoes. I just threw them into the oven whole next to the pan and let them roast until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. 

Then, I made the chicken again with a side of

Made with rosemary

roasted potato and asparagus. I cut up the potatoes and asparagus and roasted them with a little bit of white wine and fresh lemon juice. 

Restaurant Review Ostia: Ristorante Cipriani

Last week we had our Christmas for lunch and it was fantastic. Even though the trains were striking, we made our way to Ostia Antica (which I need to absolutely explore more thoroughly). The restaurant, Ristorante Cipriani was about 5 to 10 minutes from the station. It's a hidden gem, recommended by one of the students at our school. It's near a castle and ancient ruins down a small, quaint alleyway that wouldn't normally get a second glance.
I really enjoyed it because it was reasonably priced and absolutely delicious. I couldn't believe it! There was a fixed menu including a pasta first, a meat second, water and coffee all for €10.

 It had limited options but everything we ordered was fantastic.
The first dish options were cavatelli con sugo di spuntature, pasta e lenticchie, e tonnarelli cozze e pachino.  Cavatelli is a type of pasta while sugo di spuntature is a tomato based sauce made with ribs. Paste e lenticchie is pasta with lentils and it is almost like a thicker soup. Tonnarelli is a traditional Roman noodle that is similar to spaghetti but

considerably thicker and it was served with muscles and small tomatoes.  I had the cavatelli and it was rich but not heavy. The sauce had a lot of flavor and it was just the right portion size so I was able to eat my next course. I did cover it in cheese, but that's really only because I love cheese. It's cold out right now, so I would love to have some more. Laure and Ashley ordered the Tonnarelli and they really enjoyed the seafood because it was super fresh and had a lot of flavor. I didn't try it because I don't always love seafood. Sian tried the pasta with lentils which had a nice wintery feel to it. It was quite warm outside but I think it would be the perfect cold weather meal.
A little after, our seconds arrived promptly. There were also three choices and we tried them all.  I tried the

salsiccia e fagioli which is sausage and beans. It was utterly delicious, the sausage was a flattened patty and full of a ton of flavor while the beans brought me back to childhood. Grams prepared them so similarly. I really enjoyed the dish. I even used bread to sop up the extra sauce. So much good flavor.  Tanya, Laure, Ashley and Sian all tried the filetto di Orata which is a fillet of sea bream. It was served with a mini salad that Ashley was thrilled to have (she had a long weekend sadly lacking in vegetables). I didn't try it (I wish I liked seafood more) but everyone had good things to say about
it.  The only complaint I heard was about the small bones, but I find that fairly typical of dishes in Italy.  Endira on the other hand tried the Spezzatino. We had been expected a sliced cut of meat but it turned out to be chunks of meat cooked in a stew. Lots of flavor and warmth. It was quite good even if not quite what expected.
I really had a good time at our Christmas list. Good food, good company and good service as well. It was really quite lovely.
And then we ran off to work (literally for me... gotta love those mad dash sprints)!