Today I am eating Humble Pie. Fortunately, not literally. I’ve been poo-pooing the dire weather warnings all week. And now we have snow. Thankfully its stopped just now, but I’m told its still snowing in London. In recognition of the horrible weather, tonight’s dinner is also going to be very warming - Honey Soy Chicken with Sesame Spinach and some sticky rice.

Honey Soy Chicken is a Jill Dupleix creation, which is very simple yet utterly gorgeous. It’s from one of her columns in The Times - recipe here (and below) - and I suspect it will be appearing on our table rather regularly now that I’ve stumbled across the recipe again. Apart from the chicken and the spinach, I had all the other ingredients in my cupboards, so it was quite perfect all round!

Its a deliciously simple recipe and perfectly proportioned for two. I decided to take a bit of time to do some semi-decent plating tonight and I’m quite pleased with the results. The sauce is rather lurid; this is purely down to the sweet chilli sauce that I favour. Its from Hong Kong I think and has the best flavour, but also rather a lot of food colouring. Maybe I should try to make my own?

Honey soy chicken
Feeds 2. Takes 45 mins plus marinating.

Honey, soy, garlic and chilli turn a simple chicken breast into a nicely sticky romantic meal. Serve with fingerbowls of water with a squeeze of lime or lemon juice.

1 garlic clove, smashed
1 small red chilli, finely sliced
1tbsp finely chopped root ginger
2tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp honey
1tbsp lime or lemon juice
1tbsp vegetable or olive oil
2 chicken breasts eg 200g each

FOR THE SAUCE:

2tbsp Thai sweet chilli sauce
1tbsp lime or lemon juice

Pound the garlic, half the chilli and the ginger together to a paste. Add the soy sauce, honey, lime juice and the vegetable oil, and stir well. Add the chicken, coat well and leave to marinate for an hour or overnight.

Heat the oven to 200C/Gas mark 6. Place the drained chicken on a roasting tray lined with foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, basting once or twice with the marinade, until the skin is crisp and golden and the chicken is cooked through.

Rest for five minutes then serve, as a whole breast, or thickly sliced, with the sesame spinach (below).

Mix the sweet chilli sauce and lime juice and spoon around the chicken and spinach.

Sesame spinach
Feeds 2. Takes 10 mins.

A very fast side dish with a light Oriental touch.

250g spinach leaves
1tsp sesame oil
1tbsp butter
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
1tsp sesame seeds

Wash the spinach, discard any thick stalks and place in a saucepan with just the water clinging to the leaves. Cover and cook over a high heat until steaming � this will only take a minute � then drain the just-wilted leaves and set aside. When cool enough to handle, squeeze them dry � this can be done in advance.

To serve, reheat the spinach in a small saucepan with the sesame oil, butter, salt and pepper, tossing well. Arrange on plates and sprinkle with sesame seeds.