This dish is a New Year’s Day tradition in our house. It’s how I wooed the Sweetie Pie into dating me. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but it’s the first meal I ever cooked for him. He was sick on New Year’s Day and called to ask me to pick up some groceries for him. I brought over the groceries…and this dish with some green beans and wild rice pilaf (because that’s what’s in the picture in the cookbook). It was love at first bite.
Now I cook it every New Year’s Day as a sort of anniversary, and it gives us an opportunity to share the story of how we met with our kiddos. It’s a sweet tradition. The dish itself has evolved a little bit over the years. But the essence is the same. And I still serve it with green beans and wild rice.
Recently I’ve been marinating the chicken for a few hours in an orange-juice/”soy” sauce/garlic marinade. I kinda just make something up every time, but if you need a recipe try this one. I then cover it with foil and bake it at 350 in the marinade (which is really poaching, not baking) for about 30 minutes until it’s cooked all the way through. Then I transfer the chicken to my grill pan and brown the outside. This method still gives you a nice sear on the outside, but keeps the chicken from drying out so much.
My body doesn’t tolerate soy very well and I posted last year about the soy-less sauce options that I like. For this recipe, I prefer the coconut aminos because it’s a little bit sweeter than the homemade option. If you can tolerate soy sauce or tamari, use that instead.
I also replaced the corn starch with potato starch because I can’t have corn. You can use any other thickener you have on hand according to your preference and diet–tapioca starch, arrowroot, etc.
I really like St Dalfour’s brand of orange marmalade. It’s free of refined sugar and is sweetened with grape juice.
Plan to Eat users, click on the recipe title to import the recipe into your account.
Source: Betty Crocker’s Cooking Basics (adapted)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds organic chicken breasts
- 4 Tbs oil or fatwhatever suits your diet
- 2 tsp potato starchor corn starch
- 1 tsp dry mustard powder
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1⁄2 cup orange marmalade
- 1⁄4 cup allergen-free soy sauce
Method
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken on both sides until no longer pink in the middle. (Alternately, you can cook the chicken, covered with foil, in a 350 degree oven until done through, then brown in a skillet or grill pan.)
- While the chicken is cooking, mix the potato starch and mustard in a small bowl. Stir in the orange juice, marmalade and “soy” sauce, mixing well. Pour the orange mixture into a small saucepan and heat gently until boiling. Continue to boil about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Pour the glaze over the chicken to serve.
