Rosemary + Samantha’s Phenomenal Citrus Spiced Chicken
Rosemary ran the Queen’s University daycare back in the day and I was part of the first graduating class. Having recently immigrated to Canada from the UK I thought Rosemary had the most enchanting accent (ever) and I would do my very best to speak the Queen’s English…a lot. I’m sure it was super irritating so thank you Rosemary for being such a good sport about it. Anyway, Rosemary’s daughter Sam and I were the same age so our families spent a fair bit of time together and I’m delighted that our children also get on like a house on fire – having bonded over poutine. Sam also happens to be a personal trainer. Her training programmes emphasize fun in the great outdoors and are geared to beginner and intermediate exercisers who want to incorporate the outdoors into a well rounded fitness program. This has nothing to do with this recipe other than that she doesn’t make or eat crap food and I happen to think she’s got an amazing idea. If you live in Old Chelsea…go see her – your jelly rolls will thank you for it. One summer we went to visit Rosemary and Sam’s family and one of them (can’t remember which) made this amazing chicken. I just found the recipe while rooting around for my standard Christmas cookie recipes so here it is.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Chicken thighs or breasts (bone in, skin on – I prefer chicken thighs in this one)
- Grated rind and juice of one orange
- Grated rind and juice of one lemon
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or a tsp of sweet thai chili sauce)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 4 Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro (optional)
- salt and fresh ground pepper
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp butter
Method
- Combine rinds and juices, mustard, pepper flakes, cumin, soy and 2 Tbps of cilantro.
- Place the thighs or breast in a glass baking dish and pour the marinade over the chicken.
- Cover and marinade chicken in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Heat oil in a skillet on med-high heat. Remove chicken from marinade, drain well and reserving the marinade in a small sauce pan (you are going to boil the bejesus out of it to make sauce later).
- Fry chicken skin side down for 3 minutes. Turn and fry another 3 minutes.
- If your skillet is oven proof, pop it in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until juices run clear. Otherwise, put it in a baking dish.
- Add honey and balsamic vinegar to the reserved marinade.
- Bring the marinade mixture to a boil on high heat and simmer for at least 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and whisk in butter. Stir in remaining cilantro and pour sauce over chicken.
Serve with rice with veg of your choice. This dish has a kick to it so if you don’t like spice leave out the red pepper / chili sauce (the dijon will be spicy enough).
Serves 4-6.