Lorraine Pascale's BBQ chicken wings

Serves: 4

We loved her baking, and now Lorraine brings us 100 simple everyday recipes in her new book, Lorraine Pascale's Fast, Fresh And Easy Food (see our special offer, below). We've been glued to the TV series, and this recipe is one of our favourites. You do need quite a few ingredients, but lots of them are storecupboard staples, so it's not as daunting as it looks.

Reader offer:

Order a copy of Lorraine Pascale's Fast, Fresh And Easy Food (Harper Collins, £20) for the special price of £16, including postage. Call 0870 787 1724 quoting reference 867M. Offer ends 1 November 2012.

Sticky Asian BBQ chicken wings with sweetcorn rice and red cabbage slaw

If the weather permits, cook the chicken on the barbecue for that smoky, woody, charcoal flavour. If not, you can bake it in the oven, as I have here.

Ingredients

• 800g mixed chicken wings and drumsticks
• For the sauce: 6 squidges of tomato ketchup
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 2 squidges of honey
• 1 clove garlic
• a few sprigs of fresh thyme
• sunflower oil
• For the slaw: ¼ head red cabbage
• 1 small red onion
• 1 small red chilli
• 1 big handful of raisins (about 25g)
• a pinch of English mustard powder (optional)
• 2 squidges of honey
• 5 tbsp Greek yogurt (full fat, low fat or no fat)
• 1 lime
• For the corn rice: 350g easy-cook long grain rice
• 1 x 198g tin sweetcorn
• sunflower oil
• 30g (approx) bag of fresh coriander or flat-leaf parsley

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6.
2. Place the chicken pieces in a large roasting tin. In a small bowl, mix together the tomato ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, five spice and honey. Peel and finely chop the garlic.
3. Run your fingers down the length of the thyme sprigs to release the leaves, then add the garlic and thyme leaves to the bowl along with a drizzle of oil and some seasoning.
4. Give the mixture a good stir and pour it over the chicken, tossing to make sure it’s evenly coated.
5. Arrange the chicken in a single layer and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Boil the kettle for the rice.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the slaw. Remove and discard the woody core from the cabbage, then slice the cabbage as finely as possible and put it in a large bowl.
7. Peel and finely slice the red onion, halve, deseed and finely chop the chilli and add to the bowl along with the raisins, mustard powder, if using, and honey.
8. Spoon in the yogurt, squeeze over the juice of the lime and season to taste. Mix everything together and set aside.
9. Tip the rice into a medium pan with a little salt, pour over enough boiling water to cover the rice by 2cm, cover and bring back to the boil.
10. Reduce the heat as low as it will go and cook according to the pack instructions. Meanwhile, baste the chicken with the sauce.
11. Drain the rice and return it to the pan. Drain the sweetcorn and add it to the rice with salt, pepper and a drizzle of oil. Stir, then cover and keep warm.
12. After the chicken has been cooking for 30 minutes, check to see if it’s cooked through by piercing the thickest part of each piece with a knife – it should be piping hot in the middle with no pinkness. The barbecue sauce should be sticky on the chicken.
13. Divide the rice between four plates, arrange the chicken on top and spoon the slaw to the side. Tear the leaves from the coriander or parsley stalks, scatter them over and serve.