On my way to work, I drive through a long street lined by beautiful houses. The other day the thing that caught my attention was the fences.

Yes, the fences

Some houses are surrounded by fences that are so high you hardly see the house. Others take it a step further and have the top of the fence barbed or lined with spikes. On the other hand there are house with short fences that are just a foot or two high.

Some fences are beautiful, made of rose bushes or beautiful wood word or stone work, others are just blind walls.

All those fences made me think that sometimes our houses are a reflection of who we are. Some people you meet are so uptight and “fenced” that it is hard to get through to them. They keep everything and everyone as far away as possible. Locked away in a world that is all their own. If you try to get too close you risk  injuring yourself with the barbed wire or the  spikes.

Other people are more welcoming, inviting. Sure they have their little fences but they are ones that don’t hide who they are nor are they too difficult to cross.

Did you ever stop to think what type of fence you put around yourself?

Red garlic chicken  is one of my family’s favorites. I make it often and if you ask my daughter any day of the week what would she like to eat the answer would be red chicken and potatoes.The secret to the recipe is the marinade, it  not only makes the chicken a gorgeous red color, it adds a festival of flavors that your taste buds will LOVE.

You can cut down on the garlic if you are not very fond of it, it will still taste great with all the herbs and spices.

I usually serve this with some dinner rolls ,an arugula salad and some ice tea.

The recipe is an adaptation of my friend Suhad’s recipe, she adds tomato juice to the pan and cooks the whole thing in the tomato juice in the oven. We like it a little dryer and so skip the juice part.

Before I get to the recipe I just wanted to remind you to check out the giveaway, there are still 4 days to enter.

Red garlic chicken

1 whole chicken cut into 4 pieces (I used breasts in the above picture because that is what I had on hand)

6 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried ginger

1/2 teaspoon all spice

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon rosemary

1 teaspoon oregano

2 teaspoons salt

2-3 tablespoons tomato paste

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3-4 potatoes peeled and cubed

 

In a bowl whisk the herbs and spices together while drizzling the olive oil and then the vegetable oil

Add the chicken and massage the marinade into the chicken.

Add the potatoes and toss. Allow to marinate (at least for 30 minutes, I usually leave it for a couple of hours)

Place the chicken and potatoes in a pan, cover with tin foil.

Set your oven to 200 C.

it will take between 45 minutes and 1 hour (ovens vary, you can tell it is done when you insert a knife in the chicken and press slightly and the juices run clear and insert a fork in the potatoes and it goes in and out easily)