Chicken Thigh Recipe

Fowl Play?

When Beyonce sang 'If you liked it, then you should've put a ring on it', she obviously hadn't yet been let in on the secret of Engagement chicken - or so these women would have us believe. It sounds like fowl play to us, so we investigated....

Ring-Finger-Lickin' Good?

The recipe is great if you're handier with a cocktail mixer than an oven - there are no exotic ingredients or special rituals.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Kosher or sea salt

Ground black pepper

2 medium lemons

Method:

1. Place rack in upper third of oven and preheat to 200C.

2. Wash chicken inside and out with cold water, and remove the giblets. Let chicken drain cavity-down in a colander until it reaches room temperature (about 15 minutes).

3. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Pour lemon juice inside and over the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Prick the whole lemons three times with a fork and place them deep inside the cavity.

4. Place the bird breast-side down on a rack in a roasting pan, lower heat to 180 and bake uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and turn the chicken breast-side up. Return it to the oven for 35 minutes.

5. Test whether it's cooked: a meat thermometer inserted in the thigh should read 180C, or juices should run clear when the chicken is pricked with a fork. Continue cooking if necessary. Let the chicken cool for a few minutes before carving. Serve with the juices.

Culinary Seduction

So does graduating from girlfriend to fiance really mean donning an apron and getting down and dirty with a chicken?

The appeal of this recipe is that for some men it conjures up images of a good wife. Men have been raised to feel that being cooked for is a sign that the person can take care of them and their offspring, which is why it's a quality they're looking for in their future wives. It's not what modern women want to hear but it's sometimes true.

Cooking can be good for a relationship because a couple can bond over a meal. I would do something sexier with the chicken such as adding honey glaze - and I certainly wouldn't expect a ring.

Luckily some men aren't chicken enough to be swayed into commitment by a meal. 'It would be sweet if my girl cooked for me but that's not enough - if I want food I can make it myself, ' says Peter, 32, a sales manager. 'I want a loving relationship, not just a hot meal because she wants to get married.'

The problem with the recipe is holding on to the hope that the man eating your chicken will be so bowled over by your culinary prowess he'll want to marry you immediately. That notion alone makes you wonder who is the real bird-brain: the chicken, the man or the woman?