Baked Teriyaki Chicken

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray." That was the story last night.  I am working on a standardized menu to cover the span of 8 weeks. Basically, this is to get a plan in place that I can follow when I am too busy to think. It rotates a nice variety of recipes we love, and keeps the number of plant based foods high and number of meat and pasta dishes at a moderate level. Because when I have no plan, meat and pasta are my go to meals. I'll post more on this menu once it is finalized.

The beauty of the menu is that it's not based on the day, but a rotation so there is flexibly to accommodate leftovers, dinner out or just the preference of the day. That's want happened last night. A friend was in need of the use of our stove because hers was not working. She brought over a saucepan with a teriyaki marinade containing cornstarch that she needed to heat and thicken.

As we talked, she stirred and heated her teriyaki mixture and it smelled really good. I asked her about the recipe and she told she found it on Allrecipes so I looked it up for future reference. Our plan for the night was to have a nice vegan meal of Mushroom Stroganoff (over brown rice pasta) and salad,which is a favorite in our house. After she left, the house still smelled like the wonderfully tangy sauce and realizing I had some chicken thighs in the refrigerator, I knew I needed to go astray.

I pulled up the recipe and saw I needed to make a few changes. More garlic and less sugar, a few other tweaks to measurements and definitely leave the skin on the thighs. I like the skin, plus if the sauce is to strong for my daughter she can remove the skin from hers and have milder flavor. The results were very good and this chicken recipe has found a slot on my developing standardized menu!

Note of caution, the brown sugar can cause havoc with your pans, I recommend lining your pan with foil before putting the chicken in.

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

(adapted from Allrecipes Baked Teriyaki Chicken)

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 tablespoons cold water

1/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup soy sauce

3/8 cup cider vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ginger, grated

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

12 chicken thighs

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cornstarch, cold water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place chicken pieces skin side down in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. (Better yet, line the pan with foil and then spray with cooking oil.  Brush chicken with the sauce. Turn pieces over, and brush again.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Baste and bake for another 20 minutes, brushing with sauce every 10 minutes.