Honey and spice grilled chicken

Once again my camera was not near at hand. I’ve recycled the photo above from a previous version of broiled chicken. What I made last night looked just like this.

A couple of days ago two of the bloggers I follow published recipes for honey glazed chicken. I needed to adapt it for my stovetop grill. Also, I wanted bone in and skin on chicken pieces. So as not to have the chicken stick to the grill, I browned it before applying the glaze and then finished it under the broiler.

I had a debate with myself about whether to use breast or thigh meat. Then I remembered how much I like the whole free-range birds from Sunflower Market. Decided to get one and dismantle it. Oops, didn’t have mustard – went with prepared horseradish.

Honey and spice grilled chicken

with kudos to Jenn and Pam
1 chicken, about 4 lbs., backbone removed, cut into 8 pieces (legs, thighs, wings, breasts)

2 tbsp olive oil
Black pepper
¼ cup honey

1 clove garlic, finely minced

juice of ½ lemon

1 tbsp prepared horseradish

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ tsp of salt

Start by brining the chicken for 2 hours in 2 cups of water in which 2 tbsp kosher salt have been dissolved. Remove from brine, rinse, dry with paper towels, and sprinkle with some black pepper.
Preheat large skillet over medium-high. Add 1 tbsp olive oil.

Brown chicken on both sides, about 3-4 min. each side.

Preheat broiler with rack in the 2nd position from the top.

While the chicken browns, mix together honey, garlic, lemon juice, horseradish, paprika, cayenne, the other tbsp of olive oil, and salt. Brush the chicken liberally with this mixture on both sides. Place on a baking rack over a shallow baking pan. Broil 5-6 minutes per side until juices run clear.

Honey, lemon and oregano pork chops

I am so grateful for the wonderful inspiration I get from reading recipes on the blogs I follow. I mentioned once before that if I don’t comment on sweet things and baked goods, it’s simply because I don’t eat sweets (well, only rarely) and I don’t bake.

On Thursday, Jenn posted an excellent pork chop recipe. She didn’t have mint and substituted oregano – a good choice. I had basil (are you tired of me bragging about the garden?), which I chose to sub for the mint, then changed my mind and stuck with oregano. A word about my pork chops. I don’t remember how they were labeled (what cut, that is) because we bought them several weeks ago in a huge “value pack.” I divided them by 5 and froze the packages. Three of them are pictured below. They look pretty good as is, but trust me, they required a lot of trimming. After that and bone removal what was left was best for a quick sauté. That didn’t necessitate any change in marination.

The recipe is pretty much as Jenn posted it. I altered the amounts a bit to account for the amount of pork I had. In the end the taste was lemony with only the merest hint of sweetness from the honey. Here’s a pic of my favorite kitchen uni-tasker, a lime squeezer. It works with lemons if you cut the lemon into quarters to make it fit. It squeezes out some of the lemon pulp which I scraped into the marinade.
I’m in the limerick mood again.

I had a nice package of pork
And wanting to not be a dork,
I trimmed them
And cut them
To a size I could eat with a spork.

Honey, lemon and oregano pork chops
1 lb. pork cutlets, chops, or some such thing
1.5 tbsp honey
zest from 1 lemon
1.5 tbsp lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
1 ½ tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and cayenne pepper to taste


Trim and cut up the pork as necessary depending on the cut. Place in a resealable bag. Combine all remaining ingredients (except butter) and pour over the pork. Marinate in the fridge for a few hours.
Heat a skillet over medium heat (4 on my 1-10 dial). Add butter to the pan. When it’s melted, add the pork pieces and sauté, turning a couple of times, until just barely pink in the center.