Hello, ragazzi!. Annalena is back, after a tour of some parts of France. It was, for Annalena, an interesting trip: she had no idea France was such a big place, and she had no idea what she would encounter. Many things, bambini, many things, from the Venus di Milo, to muskrats (yes, muskrats, darlings). She attended a beautiful wedding, ate at a community dinner in a medieval town, after which she danced the Macarena, discussed the fine points of potato cookery with a French chef: but like Dorothy, constantly wanted to go home. There are many reasons for that, ragazzi, having everything to do with Annalena, and nothing to do with France. And she leaves it at that.
Now, one thing that Annalena read, over and over again, before going to France was ; BRING BACK MUSTARD. She was told, repeatedly, that what passes for dijon mustard in the US, is not dijon mustard. And now she knows, this is true. Fact is, the trip was such that Annalena bought her mustard at the airport, and some of it is in easy to apply tubes. This, ragazzi, is a life changer for Annalena, who slathers mustard on all of her sandwiches. She cannot tell you what a difference it has made already..
But she also bought a HUGE jar of the stuff, perfect for this diva recipe. Why "diva?" Well, ragazzi, this is a perfect recipe for the woman who needs to strut, or just WANTS to strut. And it is easy. It is absurdly easy. Annalena has stolen it from David Tanis, and wants to lead you through it a bit. And she assures you, again, dinner does not get any easier than this.
You will need about 3 pounds of chicken: thighs and drumsticks, separated. On the bone, and rip the skin from the thighs (Would that we could do that to ourselves, right, ragazze? ). Or, buy it without the skin. No one will know. And then set out two bowls: fill one with 4-6 tablespoons of dijon mustard, and the other, with 1.5 cups of breadcrumbs of some kind, with a few tablespoons of chopped parsley, and if you like a little of a more assertive herb. In the photo below, Annalena has added tarragon to her crumbs, which are panko. Use fresh ones if you have them, or even the dried stuff. There are four tablespoons of mustard in the bowl.
Preheat your oven to 400. While it is preheating, get to work. Get a brush, or just use your fingers, and paint each piece of chicken, with mustard. How thickly you paint the mustard depends on how strong the stuff is, and how much you like it
After you coat the chicken with the mustard, dip it in the crumb and herb mix, and repeat this, until you've coated each piece:
At this point, you are really done with your hard work. You put this tray into the oven, and you let it bake for 30-45 minutes. 30 minutes will give you chicken that is pink, and perhaps even red at the bone, so if you are making this for your children, or the thought of raw chicken gives you the skeeves, then go for the longer period of time.
The chicken will not look that different when it's done:
You can see a little browning on the coating, but it is pretty similar to what we began with.
If you want to get "fancy," and justify wiping your brow, you can make a sauce. How do you make the sauce? Ready? Take the bowl with the leftover mustard in it (or add more mustard), and add honey and stir. Annalena used lavender honey, so as to confuse the regions of France, and then just spread some on each piece:
So, Annalena dedicates this to all of her divas out there, and hopes you make it and enjoy it. And if you are not a diva, well, you are lying since each of us possesses the goddess, don't we?
A bientot, mes amis.
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