Yes, you read that right, and I did it. You walk into a lawn and garden shop and buy a brick. If you do the same…. don’t try to explain, they still don’t understand. We all had some laughs though. I’m sure I made their day and they went home with the story of “the crazy lady that bought a brick for dinner”. Hey, as long as I made someone smile, I’m OK !
If you don’t have a brick, use another cast-iron pan , it works just fine.
I served this with “Orange Brown Rice”. ( made that up too but will explain)
For the Asian Style Orange Chicken………….
You need a whole chicken, and you need to remove the back bone.
Turn it over on a butting board with the breast side down.
Now take kitchen shears and cut on the left side of the back bone. Now cut on the right of the back bone. Yes, you heard that right, surgery. It’s really not hard at all.
I started at his um…. “bottom”. I cut down on both sides of his back bone and it looks like this.
(Now save the bone to make chicken broth. Just place it in a zip bag and freeze. When you have collected wings or parts, make your broth.) I will show you how to do that if you’re interested. You will never buy canned or “boxed” again. OK, maybe you will but only for an emergency only.
There I go again getting sidetracked. Here is what the chicken looks like after removing the back bone. Beware, it looks yucky.
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It started to separate so it looks like it is “wider” than it really is. If you put both your hands and smooshed it together, you would see that the back bone was only about an inch or so wide.
I looked for better photos but they were all even worse than these. I promise to try harder with photos now that I will have people other than myself looking at them.
It will lay flat when you smoosh it down and place brick on top.
Now its time to get the marinade ready.
Lets see…
2 Oranges ( save the zest of second one for the rice)
1 line
soy sauce
salt and pepper
garlic
1/2 cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine) or you can use honey.
1/2 rice wine vinegar
5 green onions
I add everything to the bag, give it a good shake ( please either close the bag or twist it while shaking. ( Do NOT ask me why I felt the need to add that in )
Place the bag in a 9×13 pan. Add the chicken and seal.
Place in fridge 3 hours or overnight. Trust me, over night gives it a very strong flavor. Not bad strong but LOTS of flavor. It’s up to you how strong you like these flavors.
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I only put the orange and lime in the bag for the photos
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Yes, I’m a rebel… I used the yellow “juicer” to squeeze that orange. *gasp*. I think I should have bought the orange one too huh? *snicker*. But hey, this one works great for limes too. *smile*
And here it is getting yummy inside. Oh and outside too.
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Preheat the oven, take the bag out of the pan. Put the pan in the Preheated oven for about 10 mins. Take chicken out and brush the breasts with veg oil. ( oh, quit) Turn breast side UP and press down hard so that the chicken lays down flat.
Place the chicken in the pan with breast side down now press down so it lays down almost completely flat. I have made this at times when it didn’t lay down so don’t worry if it happens to you. Who cares what it looks like as long as it is YUMMY ! Now put the brick on it, and bake for about 40 mins. If you don’t have a brick, set another iron skillet on top of the chicken. It will press it just fine.
Now this is a good time to do a lot of clean up. Get rid of the cutting board, wipe down the counter with sanitation sheets etc. Raw meat shouldn’t be messed with. ( Unless you’re talking about “Steak Tartare”. Oops that’s another post..sorry)
When the 40 mins is up take the pan out so you can turn the chicken. Put about 2 or 3 tablespoon water into the pan to release the chicken from the botton. add more if you need more. Turn the chicken over and baste with the juices. Roast until temp in thigh reaches 165F and juices run clear and the skin is nice and crispy. About 10-20 mins or so. This will depend on your oven. Squeeze the remaining orange over the chicken before serving.
Here are some photos when it was done.
The photo above looks like a disaster because the poor chicken fell apart. The legs started to fall off as soon as I started to lift it out.
This one is a picture of a leg, wing and a couple thin slices of breast. Of course the orange rice and green beans. I don’t know where the salad photo went. Hmmmmm.
Orange Brown Rice
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Orange Rice is simple
Make brown rice according to directions. Add the zest of an orange and the juice of 1/2. I added chopped parsley and about 1 Tb of chives also.
That is it.
What I did was…….
I used the zest from one of the oranges from the chicken dinner above. The one that you are to use when the chicken is done.
I zested then cut the orange and squeezed about 3 tablespoons or more into the water while the rice was cooking. The rest of the orange will be used later when the chicken is done. Now you have “Orange Brown Rice”. it really did make a wonderful meal.
I will also post a printable
This meal was served with a small salad on the side but I can’t find the photos.