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. 

Recipe: Stuffing to beat all stuffings...

So for Thanksgiving, there are generally only a few things that I'm in charge of (although when I'm here in Italy I'm pretty much in charge of everything lol) one of which is stuffing.  But usually we use premade... Stovetop or one of those things and I just add in other things.  My favorite things to mix in are apple, sausage, onion, carrot and celery (sometimes mushrooms) all cooked down in some butter... mmmm yummy... seriously my mouth just started watering thinking about all of the delicious flavors...

And then yesterday for the first time I decided to make stuffing from scratch!  I was a little stressed out so I needed something time consuming to make.  So of course my brain still semi being on thanksgiving decided that stuffing was the way to go.  So how do you make stuffing in Italy when no one has sent you a package of stuffing? 
Tis a very good question.  One that I shall answer.

STUFFING FROM SCRATCH
1 very large round loaf of Italian bread
olive oil
butter
4-5 carrots
1/2 a whole stalk of celery
1/2 a large onion
1-2 apples or pears (a combo of both would also be great)
around 200-250 grams of sausage
1 boullion cube
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano, garlic flakes, and nutmeg

Remove the crust of the bread and cut into fairly even cubes.   Put into a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and oregano.  Bake for a half an hour to an hour and check periodically (don't let the bread burn!!). 
In the meantime, dice the carrots, onion, celery and apples into small cubes.  Keep the onion in a separate dish. 
Heat some olive oil in a pan and sautee the onions.  Add garlic flakes (or fresh garlic finely diced).  When they begin to turn clear add in the other diced vegetable and fruit.  Simmer and stir for about 10-15 minutes.  When the vegetables start to lose their crispness add in the sausage and stir rapidly so it spreads evenly through the mixture.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and a good dose of nutmeg.  When the sausage is almost cooked all the way through add in butter to taste (the more the better). 
In a small pan boil water and a boullion cube.
Remove the bread from the oven and place into a large bowl.  Pour in the sauteed mixture and stir well. Very slowly add in the broth making sure that the bread does not become too soft.  When the bread has absorbed enough water and the vegetables are mixed well, put the mixture into a large baking tin. 
Cover with alumnum foil and bake at a moderate temperature for 1-2 hours.  Check periodically to make sure that it hasn't dried out.

mmmm goodness right there :D

You can't really see the stuffing clearly, but that's my first version from Thanksgiving.
Yummo!!

~Raspberry Truffle