My friend Cara makes delicious honey garlic pork spareribs, and I love how the honey and garlic caramelize in the sauce and get all sweet and sticky (or rather, even more sweet and sticky!) in the oven. This chicken dish sort of mimics that sparerib sauce, with the addition of Dijon mustard. I used skin-on chicken legs here, but it works equally well with chicken thighs, and the chicken pieces can be skin-on or off. The measurements are all “more or less”, so taste it before you add the chicken and adjust as you see fit. Use a baking dish that accommodates the chicken fairly snugly (it will shrink as it bakes), so that the sauce doesn’t dry out in the oven and the chicken stays moist. Serve with rice or some other grain to soak up the delicious sauce!

Honey Mustard Garlic Chicken

6 chicken legs or thighs, skin on or off

Sauce:

1 1/2 tbsp butter, melted

2-3 tbsp honey

1-2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1-2 tbsp soy sauce

3-4 cloves garlic, sliced and coarsely chopped

freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375˚ F. Mix together sauce ingredients in a baking dish large enough to accommodate the chicken pieces snugly. Before adding the chicken, taste the sauce, and add more honey/mustard/soy sauce as needed. When the sauce is to your liking, add the chicken pieces, turning to coat. Bake, uncovered, at 375˚ F for about 50-60 minutes, until deeply browned and the internal temperature is 180˚ F (cover with foil if things are getting too brown before the chicken is done). Turn chicken pieces over in the sauce to coat once during cooking. Serve over rice or other grain and drizzle with sauce from the baking dish.