This recipe says it all. You need no more than a few minutes to load up a couple of freezer bags with ribs and chicken, oils and unguents and then after a day or so’s untroublesome marinating in the refrigerator, you tip out the contents to a roasting tray and slide it in the oven. Your input is minimal, but what you get out is a big feast that feels homey and welcoming and makes everyone happy, you included.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 days 1 hr 30 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Inactive: | 2 days |
| Cook: | 1 hr 15 min |
| Yield: | 6 to 8 servings |
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 days 1 hr 30 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Inactive: | 2 days |
| Cook: | 1 hr 15 min |
| Yield: | 6 to 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 12 pork spare ribs
- 12 chicken thighs, with skin and bones
- 1 cup apple juice, as sharp as possible
- 4 tablespoons/1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick, halved
- 6 unpeeled garlic cloves
Instructions
- Put the ribs and chicken pieces in a couple of large freezer bags or into a dish.
- Add all the remaining ingredients, squelching or everything together well before sealing the bag or covering the dish.
- Leave to marinade in the refrigerator overnight or up to 2 days.
- Take the dish out of the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 200C/400 degrees F.
- Pour the contents of the freezer bag into 1 or 2 large roasting trays (making sure the chicken is skin side up) and place in the preheated oven and cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, by which time everything should be sticky and glossed conker-brown.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 1168 |
| Total Fat | 90 g |
| Saturated Fat | 26 g |
| Carbohydrates | 12 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 9 g |
| Protein | 73 g |
| Cholesterol | 413 mg |
| Sodium | 588 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 1168 |
| Total Fat | 90 g |
| Saturated Fat | 26 g |
| Carbohydrates | 12 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 9 g |
| Protein | 73 g |
| Cholesterol | 413 mg |
| Sodium | 588 mg |
Reviews
One of our favorite chicken marinades. I saw it on the show, bought the book and have been making it several years with lots of variations. Nigella’s original recipe is perfect. I don’t always have apple juice on hand when I want to fix this so I substitute a little lemon juice and add a sliced & cored apple. Often in summer it is too hot (113 F to turn the oven on for 40 + minutes, so my husband grills the chicken only outside. Finally, what rack? I don’t see a rack mentioned in the recipe. When I do fix the ribs & chicken in the oven, I only cook them with a little marinade up the side of the chicken. It’s great, enjoy!
I have cooked this 4 to 5 times now and my family absolutely loves it. If you are having a hard time finding Star Anise try looking at World Market, I can usually find it there. For anyone who feels that this meal doesn’t have a lot of flavor, I’m quite sure you’re doing something wrong, not saying you’re bad or anything I just know that after cooking this meal about 5 times, the flavor is very consistant (sp?). Anyways, if you’re not getting the flavor, maybe it’s the apple juice? or the meat isn’t coated enough, I generally use organic apple juice, give that a try maybe.
I asked our daughter what she would like to do for her 15th birthday dinner. A restaurant or i could cook what ever she liked.
Her request was for my maple chicken and ribs and Daddies mashed potato.
I have cooked this for our family and friends twice before and its been a huge success. Most suprisingly our 7 yr old fussy boy adores them too.
Her request was for my maple chicken and ribs and Daddies mashed potato.
I have cooked this for our family and friends twice before and its been a huge success. Most suprisingly our 7 yr old fussy boy adores them too.
I let it marinade for about 10 hours bit more maple syrup and season salt. Everyone loved it at Thanksgiving!
I just cooked this dish after marinating it for 24 hours. It was simply awful. Just tasted like cooked meat… no flavor. Thankfully i tried this recipe out first on my family before preparing it for company.
It looked so tasty on the show, but in real life the results don’t transfer. The ribs don’t absorb any of the flavor however, the chicken does a little… making it somewhat edible.
Sorry Nigella… you looked beautiful baking this dish, but the end product is just a complete disappointment.
This is good, but not great. I thought this was just ok…but my son would give it 4 stars. The chicken thighs were gorgeous to look at and juicy…and everything smelled great…but the flavors were just ok. It was kind of boring. Didn’t have star anise so left it out. Don’t know that I would make this again.
I watched the show and made the recipe exactly as described. I bought/used a large/disposable foil pan and used our outside gas grill. I placed the pan on the grill in the middle and turned on the left and right burners…closed the lid…came back and found terrific food. Easy, minimal clean-up and terrific flavors! Thanks Nigella!
This looked so scrumptious when Nigella made it on her show that I just had to try it. It is so very easy. It makes a delicious and savory Sunday dinner, but is easy enough to fix for a weeknight supper. I used a little cinnamon instead of the sticks which worked just fine. I also did not use the rack (which worked fine) and substituted boneless country style pork ribs for the spare ribs. I did baste the meat with a spoon just once about 15 minutes before taking it out of the oven which really gave it a nice glaze and crisped up the chicken skin The flavor is just right — not overpowering. Everyone loved it so much we are making it for Superbowl Sunday!
This is my husband’s most requested dish. I don’t use a rack. I am not sure why that would be necessary. I make a large batch of this using club pack chicken thighs and drumsticks, and actually beef spareribs instead of pork. I then freeze it in dinner for 2 sized portions. One of the things that I like about this recipe is that it allows you to substitute. I am going to try it with cinnamon instead of cinnamon sticks.
Everyone in the house loved this recipe and that is saying something!!! I did end up with the chicken in one dish and the ribs in another and I cooked the ribs for an additional 15 minutes as the chicken was done first. Next time I make it, and I will make it again, I will increase the number of ribs though. They were fought over.