Easy Maple Chicken and Ribs

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 fridge, you tip out the contents into a roasting tray and slot 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.

Ingredients

• 12  pork spare ribs
• 12  chicken thighs with skin and bone still on
• 1 cup apple juice (as sharp as possible)
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick (halved)
• 6 cloves garlic (unpeeled)

Instructions

1. Put the ribs and chicken pieces in a couple of large freezer bags or into a dish.
2. Add the remaining ingredients, squelching everything together well, before sealing the bag or covering the dish.
3. Leave to marinate in the fridge overnight or up to two days.
4. When the marinating time is up, take the dish out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6/400ºF.
5. Pour the contents of the freezer bag into one or two large roasting tins (making sure the chicken is skin-side up), place in the oven and cook for about an hour and a quarter, by which time everything should be sticky and glossed conker-brown.

NIGELLA EXPRESS