Sweet & spicy, tangy and flavorful. I enjoy simple baked chicken – with a sauce that doesn’t require too many ingredients – but packs in the flavor. This was a definite crowd pleaser!
Start with good quality meat. Perhaps you have a whole chicken you can piece out and fill a baking dish. I used a 5lb package of organic chicken legs/thighs. (We have 6 hungry people to feed, plus we love leftovers) You’ll get the best result from chicken with the skin ON. The flavor that the skin creates as it releases it’s fat into the sauce really makes a difference.
Spicy Apricot Orange Chicken
Source: Plan to Eat Blog
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 5 lbs chicken pieces (skin on)
- 3 cups white wine
- 6 cloves fresh garlic chopped
- 1/2 orange Peel of – finely diced
- 1/2 cup apricot preserves
- 1 & 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1-2 Tbls. arrowroot powder
- 1 red fresh chile sliced – or dried pepper flakes (to taste)
Directions
- Using a sharp knife, slice just the orange peel from an organic orange. Some white pith is ok, but too much of the white will create bitterness in your sauce. Once you’ve removed about half the peel, chop into fine pieces. It’s also possible to use a zester and finely grate the orange zest. If you choose this method, I would zest most of the orange for enough orange flavor.
- Add white wine, apricot preserves, chopped garlic, orange peel/zest, sliced chile & salt to a saucepan. Heat and stir, until the apricot preserves melt into the wine. Dissolve arrowroot powder in warm water and add to sauce. Heat until mixture thickens.
- Add thawed chicken pieces to a large baking dish and pour sauce over the chicken.
- Bake at 350 for one hour. Turn heat up to 375 and bake 15 – 20 minutes longer to crisp up the skin.
- We served ours with roasted root vegetables, along with a fresh cabbage & turnip salad. The dressing was made from the juice of the orange that was zested for the chicken. This chicken would be fabulous with a side of rice. The sticky sauce was our favorite part. Enjoy!
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