Maple Chicken 'n' Ribs

For weekends when my father comes to dinner, I'm always on the look out for easy baking recipes where I can simply marinate the meat and let the oven do the cooking. Here's a recipe I saw on Nigella's website which caught my eye - maple, spices and apple juice sound like a lovely combination for meats. 

This chicken and ribs combo also reminds me of eating at Tony Romas and I used to enjoy this combo very much. 

The chicken and ribs turned out to be flavourful - a lovely combination of the sweetness of maple syrup, aroma of the spices and tartness of the apple juice. I'm happy to have discovered another delicious and simple marinade recipe.

Maple Chicken 'n' Ribs (Serves 8)

Recipe by Nigella

Ingredients

• 12 pork spare ribs
• 12 chicken thighs with skin and bone still on (I used skinless thighs)

Marinade ingredients

• 250 ml apple juice (as sharp as possible)
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup*
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce (I used 1 tbsp)
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick (halved)
• 6 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
• 4 cloves (my own addition)

Method

• Put the ribs and chicken pieces in a couple of large freezer bags or into a dish.
• Add the remaining ingredients, squelching everything together well, before sealing the bag or covering the dish.
• Leave to marinate in the fridge overnight or up to two days.
• When the marinating time is up, take the dish out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6/400ºF.
• Pour the contents of the freezer bag into one or two large roasting tins (making sure the chicken is skin-side up), place in the oven and cook for about an hour and a quarter, by which time everything should be sticky and glossed conker-brown.
• Additional information - for gluten free use tamari instead of soy sauce.

Note: I used half the marinade recipe with 8 pieces of chicken and ribs

* I used Grade B Organic Maple syrup from www.iherb.com. They deliver all over the world - use NAD207 to get US$10 off your first order.

This is for Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Anuja from Simple Baking. 

Hakka Mee

I’ve always enjoyed my bowl of Hakka Mee. Though I don’t eat much pork on a daily basis, I’m quite happy to break that rule for this delicious minced pork noodles garnished with lots of spring onions. I can’t remember exactly when I started eating and loving this so much, but its probably from my childhood days of spending holidays in Malaysia with my cousins.

The mouth-watering pictures of Seremban Hakka Mee on my friend Baby Sumo’s blog brought back those cravings. Thanks to her easy recipe, I managed to whip up a bowl for the Malaysian Food Fest.

I am surprised that a simple topping of pork stir-fried and mushrooms with garlic and soya sauce can be so flavourful! The Seremban version uses hand-made noodles. To create the home-made version, I found a non-fried broad noodle (dried) from the supermarket’s noodle section which was surprisingly springy and smooth. As the noodles are not flavoured, the more topping you put on it, the more flavourful the dish will be. This is perfect for days when one is rushed for time and wants to prepare something simple.

Hakka mee (3 servings)
Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients

• 220g non-fried broad noodles
• 400g pork mince
• 2 stalks spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2-3 tbsp soy sauce, to taste
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• Shitake mushrooms, diced (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the garlic and fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Add the pork mince and mushrooms and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, or until thoroughly cooked. Season with soy sauce and remove from heat.

2. In a separate pot, bring water to boil. Add the noodles, and cook for 3-4 minutes, until noodles are firm to the bite. Drain well and divide the noodles between 3 bowls. If noodles stick together, rinse it under cold water.

3. Top the noodles with minced pork and drizzle with some of the oil which have been released during cooking. Garnish with some spring onions. Serve with pickled green chillies or jalapenos.

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I am submitting this post to Malaysia Food Fest, Negeri Sembilan month, hosted by Hody Loh of Cook 4 you & me