Have you guys heard about hot honey? If you dont know what all the fuss is about, its sweet, spicy honey & its delicious, & sooo addicting. I make mine using habanero chillis which adds such a lovely depth of flavour. To me, the habanero honey is just begging to be drizzled over a crispy piece of chicken. Add a good spoonful of honey mustard slaw crunchy pickles & you have yourself a pretty perfect burger!

Makes 6

Ingredients :

Habanero Honey:

1 cup good quality, pure honey

2 Habanero chillis

For the chicken:

6 small, skinless, boneless chicken thighs

2 Large eggs

1 1/2cup Japanese panko bread crumbs

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

ts salt

ts pepper

For the honey mustard slaw:

1/2 red cabbage, grated or finely sliced

2 carrots, grated

2 celery sticks, finely chopped

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup dijon mustard

1/4 good quality, pure runny honey

2TBS apple cider vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

Assembly:

Burger buns, home made or storebought

lettuce, washed & roughly torn

your favourite pickles, sliced (I used pickles marinated in chilli for an extra kick)

To Make The Habanero Honey:

In a small saucepan, add the honey & chillis & bring to a boil over a medium- high heat. Once boiling, remove from heat, & steap, lid on for 20 minutes to an hour. The longer you leave the honey to steep, the stronger the flavour will be. I quite often leave it overnight.

To Make The Slaw:

In a large bowl, mix together the mayonaise, dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, honey & salt & pepper.

add cabbage, carrotts & celery to the honey mustard mixture & mix well, ensuring all of the veggies are coated in the sauce. Cover & place in the fridge untl needed (This can be made a day ahead, & usually tastes better the next day!)

To Make The Chicken:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

In a large dish, such as a baking dish, add the flour, panko curmbs & salt & pepper & mix lightly.

Crack the eggs onto a large plate & whisk lightly.

Dredge the chicken in the egg enuring the enire piece of chicken is covered.

Drain any excess egg then place the chicken into the flour mixture.

Press down onto the chicken with the palm of your hand to ensure the flour sticks to the chicken. Make sure the whole piece of the chicken is covered in the flour mixture.

Repeat with remaining chicken.

Once all the chicken has been coated, pour 1 cup of vegetable oil into a large pot, set to medium high heat.

Working in batches, fry your chicken pieces on both sides until crispy & golden bown in colour. Dont panic if they arent fully cooked through, they will finish cooking in the oven.

drain chicken on wire wrack & place in the oven for 30 minutes or until reaching an internal tempurate of 74 degrees C.

To Assemble:

Add lettuce to the bottom side of each bun, followed by a chicken piece, a good dollop of the habanero honey (as much as your heart desires!). Top with sliced pickles & honey mustard slaw.

Serve with sweet potato chips if desired.

Enjoy!