Indonesian Ginger Chicken and The Agony of Defeat

  For more than twenty years I have been cooking and baking dish after dish after dish. For family. For friends. For sale. For contests. For ME. Years ago others began asking for different recipes and oodles of advice. Knowledge that I spent 25 years learning. Write them down, share them....my favorites, my go-tos, the winners, the losers, the tried and the true.

  So why now, you may ask, after all this time have I begun to write them all down? Two reasons I think. 1. I would like to have all of my favorite recipes in one place. Right now they are scattered amongst 40+ cookbooks and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles. It would be nice to have the capability to print certain recipes off for my daughter and one day daughter-in-law. I would like for my "tried and trues" to be kept by the ones that come behind me. 2. I have decided my time as a food competitor has finally come to an end after 23 years. I'm not saying I will never enter another contest, but not any time soon.                        

  As far as advice, tips, time savers or secrets go....that I have spent more than half of my life accumulating....do I share these? How did I learn ? Failure and Defeat. Alone in my kitchen, trial and error, over and over and over again. There can always be a better way, a faster way, an easier way of preparing and cooking food. Trial and Error, it's as simple as that. Before I dipped chocolates, I had no clue that the candy center needed to be almost frozen and the chocolate extremely warm and loose to ensure a pretty dipped candy.

  For some of you that know me well this will NOT come as a surprise BUT: I have set the stove on fire, burned up completely good pots, forgotten dishes in the oven, clogged drains with peanut brittle, left ingredients, such as sugar or eggs, out of cakes and pies, used too much salt, over cooked, under cooked, burned and cut my hands and arms and poured hot boiling water down my legs. Let see is that it? I'm sure I am leaving something out....but I have done it ALL. I have made ALL of the mistakes and still do. Success consists of going from failure to failure without the loss of your enthusiasm.You must be willing to fail and have the courage to get back in there and try again. So find yourself a recipe, get in the kitchen and try. Always feel free to stop by with any questions or concerns you may have. I will try my best to share any knowledge I may have picked up along this road I find myself on as we try to master the art of cooking. Together.
 This chicken recipe would be great to start out with. If you read through it a couple of times, have all of your ingredients and utensils on hand ready to begin...it would be almost IMPOSSIBLE to screw this recipe up! It is an easy, delicious way to cook chicken...give it a try. Good Luck and happy eating!!

 

Indonesian Ginger Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 cup honey
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 8-10 garlic cloves, minced 
• 1/4 cup peeled and grated fresh ginger root 
• 2 (3 1/2 pound) chickens, quartered, with backs removed

Directions

Cook the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger root in a small saucepan over low heat until the honey is melted and loose. Arrange the chicken in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan, skin side down, and pour on the sauce. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the baking pan in the oven, do not remove foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan, turn the chicken skin side up, and raise the temperature to 375 degrees F. Continue baking for 30 minutes or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh and the sauce is a rich, dark brown.

Serves 4 to 6 hungry adults!