Bobby is too fancy for plain old orange chicken

I saw Bobby Flay grilling tangerine and maple glazed chicken and I had to try it. It just sounded good. I'm not obsessed with Bobby Flay by any means, but ever since trying his food at Mesa Grill in Vegas, I am definitely a fan. The hardest thing about his cooking is that he uses so many different spices that get used for one or two recipes and then just sit. If I were to invest heavily in all of his spices, I would have to cook his recipes almost exclusively just to justify the cost. But this recipe happened to not require a whole lot of unusual ingredients, with the exception of tangerine juice. It was on sale at Safeway, so I was in business. And I can always buy it at Trader Joe's, too.

Due to Jim still sleeping and me not knowing how to operate a barbecue, the recipe had to be modified. Instead, I drizzled chicken thighs and a breast with EVOO, salt, and pepper and roasted them at 350 for 45 minutes or so. While they were roasting, I sauteed red onion in EVOO and then added tangerine juice and fresh thyme, simmering the mixture until it reduced to a thick, syrupy consistency. I strained the glaze and then whisked in soy sauce, maple syrup, and pepper. I wasn't sure how red onion and tangerine juice would taste together, but it was a sweet, rich sauce. I liked it. All I had to do was baste the chicken with the sauce in the last few minutes of cooking and then top the chickies with some sliced scallions for garnish.





Some steamed asparagus and Jim's garlic bread and dinner was done. Minimal effort. It took some time, but most of it didn't involve me doing anything. I took the time to clean up the kitchen a bit. I'm afraid it suffered somewhat last week. I also started cleaning out the fridge, which it desperately needed. It doesn't look half bad now.



Jim doesn't actually eat the skin of the chicken, so I don't think he really got a whole lot of the glaze, but he said he could taste the "orange" flavor. I corrected him stating that it was tangerine and he sarcastically replied that of course it was tangerine, since Bobby Flay was too good for just plain old orange juice--it had to be fancy tangerine juice.

I think I'll try the recipe again with grilled chicken before deciding one way or another. I certainly liked it for its ease. But Jim's the one who has to eat it, so we'll see.