“Barbecue may not be the road to world peace, but it’s a start.” – Anthony Bourdain

Since we are not too far off from the Thanksgiving celebrations I found that is a good time to freezer dive to save room for holiday goodies and I came away with half a chicken and a small end of a rack of ribs both for Nigella’s maple chicken and ribs recipe. Look for the video of Negella making this dish and the link to the recipe is below:
https://www.nigella.com/recipes/maple-chicken-n-ribs

I did take the liberty to grill the chicken and ribs and it was dark so the photo is not that great, but I loved this recipe and will make it again…loved the flavor and perfect touch for a fall dinner. For two of us we shared half a chicken and 5-6 ribs…

So to grill the chicken and ribs I mixed a bit of maple syrup with apple cider to baste the meats while grilling. Serve with baked potatoes and a nice fall salad.

My favorite syrup…

INGREDIENTS

Serves: 6-8

• 12 pork spare ribs (5-6 ribs for two)
• 12 chicken thighs with skin on and bone in (I made 1/2 of a chicken for two)
• 1 cup apple juice (as sharp as possible)
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2-star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick (halved)
• 6 cloves garlic (unpeeled)

METHOD

1. Put the ribs and chicken pieces in a couple of large freezer bags or into a dish.
2. Add the remaining ingredients, squelching everything together well, before sealing the bag or covering the dish.
3. Leave to marinate in the fridge overnight or for up to two days.
4. When the marinating time is up, take the dish out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/gas mark 6/400ºF.
5. Pour the contents of the freezer bag into one or two large roasting tins (making sure the chicken is skin-side up), place in the oven, and cook for about an hour and a quarter, by which time everything should be sticky and glossed conker-brown.