Chicken with mustard, orange and honey

And now for something completely different, as Monty Python would say. Today I want to present some really easy and really different chicken recipe to you, which I understand is of Israel origin. It is very simple and combines sweet, sour and spicy tastes, and of course you have to like this kind of combination if you want to try this recipe. We tried it, and it was definately lovely!

Well then, Ladies and Gentlemen, here we go....

For 3 - 4 persons all you need is:

*) 4 chicken wings

*) 1 peeled garlic (organic)

*) the juice of 1 orange (organic)

*) the juice of 1 lemon (organic)

*) 250 ml additional orange juice

*) 1 large spoon of mustard seed

*) 2 large spoons of mustard (I used a spicy one)

*) 2 large spoons of honey

*) 1 dried chili

*) 10 dried apricots

*) some salt and pepper

*) some olive oil

Preheat oven up to 200°C, peel the chili with pepper and salt and pound in mortar. Then put it in a small bowl and mix with the mustard seed and mustard. Add lemon, orange and honey and stir so the honey dissolves.

Wash the chicken and put it in a barbeque mold. Then pour all the mix over the chicken and add the dried apricots. It should look like this now:

Put it in the oven now for about an hour, turn it now and then and pour the marinade over the chicken. Voila! Now it should turn out like this:

And if you have a husband like me who enjoys decorating and preparing the food, then it maybe, maybe comes out looking this way:

The flavour of the mustard really mixes great with the chili and the honey, and believe it or not, the apricots add an especially nice taste to the whole dish. I definately can recommend it! Even my mom liked it.

It was the ideal dish for a cozy Autumn evening at home. I hope you enjoy it! Mahlzeit!

A Saturday at the Waldviertel

This Saturday we took off to the Waldviertel, which is the most northern part of Lower Austria. It is a good 2 hrs drive off Vienna, and you can tell that you are heading into some real and serious wilderness that is far off the Austrian capital - or anywhere else that you would call "centre." BUT the people in the Waldviertel call THEMSELVES the centre - and the others far off in the middle of nowhere of course.

The drive there was fun! We went through Allentsteig, a millitary zone, passed a lot of castles and abbeys, and the nature is simply.... nature. True and honest. That is what I like best with the Waldviertel - no fake, no sissy nature - it is the way it is, and that is good.

This is a typical photo of the Waldviertel - my spiritual and childhood home. I have not been there for many years, but yesterday it was like I never left. My roots are there, my grandparents, my memories.... and I am definate: Home is where my heart is, and I want to go home again as soon as possible. (Hear me, Stefan!)

"Welcome to Kautzen", the place we went to. Please do not read "Erlebnis Thailand" - we are far from there. It means "Erlebnis Thayaland" - but the fir tree insisted on blocking the view.

This is Zorro, the actual reason why we went to the Waldviertel. Zorro was picked up and brought to the home of one of our Breitenfurt neighbors, even though poor Zorro was very hesitant. But he is going to have a great home, with a brother and a sister, and in just a couple of days I will definately meet him at the fence and he will be sure that the world is turning just for him alone.

After sending baby Zorro on its way it was very much about time to go for some real food. And guess what we had: Gansl with Waldviertlerknödel (real potatoe dumplings) and white and red cabbage. Stefan and me had been talking about this maior event for weeks, and I finally know now why Juliane and I met at university years ago. (I know we laughed about this yesterday, Tschü!) It was soooooo brilliant, and I had two dumplings (whatever comments might say) and it just tasted like back home at my Gran´s.... Oh Gran, I miss you, and you know that I miss your cooking too...

Fritz, Tschü´s dad, invited us to this brilliant event, and we were very surprised, accepted the invitation happily, and we definately hope that we can return the favour very soon.

Yum, yum. The goose was gone, but a bit of dumpling left...... How was lunch today, Tschü? I have never seen quite as happy people packing up their doggy bag for the next day! I sure would have been happy too, but there was nothing left....

Afterwards it was time to let the kiddos have some fun and to walk some of that belly off. Fritz even gave Stefan his beautifully crafted walking stick - then he gave us his blessing and went home for a nap and some zither practise for the afternoon Xmas market. Fritz is an extremely gifted zither player and teacher, so if you are interested in learning this instrument please send an email to musikkultur@gmx.at. And if you want to play ANY kind of instrument contact him too, he knows the perfect teacher for everybody. (And please for my non-European friends: Do not mix up the Austrian zither with the Indian citar: It is a totally different kind of music instrument. In doubt check the net!)

Hmmm.... should we take off or not? Indy finally convinced us. "Mammy, let´s run, run, run, run!"

Then we went for a loooong walk. The kiddos had lots of fun, and we had fun too, a chance to chat, enjoy nature and soak in the history that surrounded us. Here you see us at the exact border between Austria and the Czech Republik. Years ago, at the time of the Iron curtain, there would have been tanks and passport controls and people with machine guns. When we strolled there yesterday it was just woods and fields and silence....

 And you see the man with one foot in the Czech Republik and one foot back in good old warm Austria...

The sun set, there was nobody around and we simply enjoyed the peaceful and quiet atmosphere everywhere...

We walked until the town of Romau/Romava, a little village that was evaporated at the times of the Iron curtain, when the Czech republic feared that this little village was too close to the boarder. The woods have grown since then, and nature has claimed back its territory, but still you see stone walls in the middle of the forest, and a little church that is still cultivated within trees and nature, and a holy mass is celebrated there each year.

 We left a message in the guest book and thanked the Romau community for all the spiritual moments that we had experienced there...

Then it was getting dark and cold, and we went home for some relaxing time at the tile stove and lots of tea with milk. Thank you, Tschü and Dad, for a wonderful day! Please come and see us soon!