Baked Citrus Chicken

The great thing about Autumn is that you can have the best of both worlds for dinner. The freshness of Summer lives on in the bright and zesty citrus flavours, yet the cooler Winter months ahead of us just call out for a lovely baked dinner. This Baked Citrus Chicken was the perfect cross over recipe as the weather slowly turned during the school holidays. I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did.

Baked Citrus Chicken

Ingredients

80ml orange juice
60ml lemon juice
30ml lime juice
60ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
Handful fresh basil leaves
12 chicken drumsticks (this is about 1.8kg)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C
2. Whisk together your juices, oil and honey in a small bowl.
3. Place your chicken in an oven proof dish and pour the mixture over your chicken making sure they are evenly coated all over.
4. Mix in a handful of fresh basil leaves.
5. Bake for 50 minutes, turning regularly.

Some of you may remember that I did a couple of flavoured salts recently. Here is another one to add to your repertoire – a Citrus Chilli Salt! This is perfect for sprinkling over this baked citrus chicken and adds a great kick that is an optional extra just for those who like it, keeping it a kid friendly recipe otherwise.

Citrus Chilli Salt

Ingredients

60g sea salt flakes
1 long red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
3 teaspoons orange zest
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon lime zest

Method

1. Pound the ingredients in your mortar and pestle
2. Spread the salt mixture evenly on a small oven proof tray and bake for 5 minutes at 160C to dry out. Be careful not to burn it!
3. Sprinkle over your Baked Citrus Chicken to serve. Store leftovers in an air tight container.

Do you love Baked Chicken?
Would you add the Citrus Chilli Salt to yours? 

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