sticky lemon chicken

What a fantastic month August has been. With the passing of another month tomorrow, we take one step closer in saying goodbye to fresh tomatoes, in season berries, peaches, nectarines, peas, pineapples, various melons, kiwis, mangoes, etc. Soon the supermarkets will be filled with ripe apples, various squashes and the vegetable I look forward to the most in autumn: pumpkin.

For dinner tonight, I decided to go back to an all-time favorite recipe that's never let me down. Gordon Ramsay's Sticky Lemon Chicken. The marriage between the savory soy sauce, zesty lemon and sweet honey is one to die for and the mark of a genius. Scrape down the side of the leg and chop off the end bone to cook the chicken leg faster and create an awesome bone presentation. Love him or hate him, Gordon Ramsay works miracles in the kitchen and his food speaks for itself.

I've roughly decided what to do with the marinade and yes - it will involve pork. It's more suited for the weekend but maybe I'll surprise myself and make it during the week.

Out of curiosity: what are some of your favorite things about autumn?

Sticky Lemon Chicken
By Gordon Ramsay, Serves 4

Ingredients:
- 8 chicken legs (can use chicken breast, chop into bite size pieces)
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- juice of 1 lemon
- 0.333 (one-third) cup water
- 1 lemon, finely sliced
- 3 tablespoons of honey
- few sprigs of fresh thyme
- bunch of fresh parsley, chopped

1) In a hot pan, add olive oil and brown the chicken on all sides. Season with salt, pepper and dried thyme leaves. About 2 - 3 minutes per side. Remove to a plate once browned and remove some of the oil, leaving about a tablespoon in the pan.
2) Add the minced garlic and saute for about a minute until fragrant.
3) Return the chicken legs to the pan.
4) Deglaze the pan with soy sauce and add sherry vinegar.
5) Add the lemon juice, lemon slices and the water. Reduce down the sauce until at a syrupy consistency and turn the chicken legs occasionaly to glaze evenly. Should take about 10 - 12 minutes. Read step 6 before stopping here.
6) About 5 minutes before the chicken legs finish cooking, add the 3 tablespoons of honey over the chicken.
7) Add freshly chopped parsley at the end. The chicken legs should be cooked through after the 12 minutes.
8) Plate the chicken legs and drizzle some of the sauce over the chicken. I had mine with mashed potatoes but feel free to have pasta, rice, bread, etc. It's delicious regardless of what you serve it with.