Golden-brown miso chicken from the oven

Soul Food was written by the cooking duo Mas van Putten and Carl Lemette, under the pseudonym De vrouw met de baard. It brings together the best of the West and the most beautiful aspects of the East. FavorFlav’s Marieke and Emma tested two dishes for you.

This miso chicken falls under Emma’s care, just read the review here.

The book says the following about the recipe: “During my service, I was stationed at an American base and put to work in the kitchen. The rest of the kitchen brigade were big, tough African-American guys, and almost all of them came from rough neighborhoods, the countryside or vague suburbs. They had signed up for the army in the hope of moving up in the world.

With about ten of these guys, we baked trays full of scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes and sausages every day for hundreds of soldiers, and I can tell you, this kind of hard labor creates a bond. Many of our conversations were about food and music. Actually, conversations about food and music are about coming home and longing for your place on earth. They gave me mixtapes from home—hip-hop, funk, soul, blues and jazz—and told me about the backgrounds of the artists, beats, soul and lyrics.

And when they started talking about food from ‘home’, wow! The way those guys could talk about a simple chicken, pure poetry! Now, as a chef and DJ, I realize how closely those two disciplines are related. It is not for nothing that a chef like David Humm has a large portrait of Miles Davis hanging in the kitchen. The jazz giant’s words about music are a daily source of inspiration for him and for many young chefs. Cool, Collaborative, Fresh, Vibrant and Spontaneous.

I don’t know what became of the guys. I do know that most of them were able to leave the service again after five years. When I make the recipe for this miso chicken, I often think of them for a moment.”

Method:

1. Peel and slice the onion into rings. Scrape the carrot and cut it into slices. Heat a generous knob of butter in a frying pan and brown the chicken legs on all sides. Add the onion rings and white wine and let this simmer over medium heat until the alcohol has evaporated. Remove the chicken legs from the pan and place them in a deep roasting tin. Do not discard the pan juices.

2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Bring the stock to a boil and pour it over the chicken legs until they are submerged. Add the carrot slices and cover the roasting tin with aluminum foil. Place the roasting tin in the oven for 30 minutes.

3. Then remove the aluminum foil and place the roasting tin back in the oven for another 30 minutes. The chicken should be golden brown and very tender.

4. Place the frying pan with the pan juices back over medium heat. Add the miso and mirin and stir until everything is incorporated into the juices. Pour the juices into a deep mixing bowl and add a generous knob of cold butter. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, and the delicious butter sauce for the chicken legs is ready. Delicious with fresh mashed potatoes, butter lettuce or Brussels sprouts.

Image: Daan Verschuur

Title: Soul Food
Author: De vrouw met de baard
Price: € 22,50
Publisher: Spectrum