But then again, who can resist a piece of braaied snoek with an apricot-garlic-lemon dressing? My mouth is watering just thinking about it. 

Anyway, back to chicken.  As a result of the above, I make chicken at least once, if not twice a week.  In pasta, in a curry, in a salad, as a pot roast, in a stir-fry, in a stew, in a pie, in soup, on the braai... chicken can make itself at home anywhere and in any cuisine.

The most memorable chicken dish I ever ate, was on my honeymoon.  We had a two-day stopover in Thailand on our way to Bali, and in a dark little restaurant, crates stacked to the roof, I had my first authentic Thai green curry with chicken. I had made it at home before, with a store-bought cook-in sauce, but the real thing was just so much better.  Imagine eating thick, doughy pizzas from the freezer section of the supermarket all your life, and then going to Italy and eating a piping-hot, thin crusted pizza with flavourful tomatoes, softly melting mozzarella and fresh basil for the first time.  It’s like your tongue comes alive.

After that experience, I’ve tried replicating the taste sensation at home.  It’s always delicious, but I can never get it to taste like Thai green curry eaten in Thailand.  I guess that’s where a cook’s magic touch comes in – making recipes the same way it’s been made for generations.  There is only one thing for it.  I think another trip to Thailand is on the cards!

Today’s recipe is as far away from Thailand as is possible.  It’s in a cookbook compiled from recipes that appeared in Landbou Weekblad – a quintessentially Afrikaans magazine for farming folk.  It’s one of my standby’s and I’m sure it will become one of yours.

PLAASKOS – STICKY OVEN-ROASTED CHICKEN

The thing I love most about Plaaskos, is the fact that it’s divided into winter and summer recipes.  I like that type of organisation.  This recipe should serve 6 (tiny appetites) or 4 (normal appetites).

1 whole chicken

Salt and pepper to taste

2 oranges

1 lemon

2 medium onions

A bunch of fresh thyme (use dried if you don’t have fresh)

60 ml soft butter

125 ml soy sauce

45 ml honey

Heat the oven to 180?C.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.  Slice one of the oranges and the lemon in quarters and stuff it in the cavity.  Tie up the cavity with a piece of kitchen string.  Slice the onion and lay it in the bottom of an oven pan.  Sprinkle the thyme over the onions.  Rub the chicken all over with the butter.  Mix the soy sauce and honey. 

Cut the remaining orange into slices and place over the top of the chicken.  Secure with toothpicks or kitchen string.  Place the chicken on top of the onions and thyme.  Brush with the soy and honey marinade.  Pour 180 ml of water in the bottom of the pan.  Bake for 1-1½ hours until cooked through.  Brush regularly with the marinade. 

I served mine with herby couscous and a green salad.

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ooOoo