Bittersweet Farm Chicken

Back to chicken dishes!! I had some oranges to use up, and this called for the zest of about 7 oranges. The recipe I will work on tomorrow calls for orange juice, so that worked out well!! Luckily I had some orange-flavored liqueur, I must have used it in another recipe. Instead of cooked baby carrots, which would have been good but I don't like cooked carrots, I used the extra liquid in some rice water.

I will definitely be keeping this recipe!! I halved the recipe and used 2 single boneless breasts. The chicken was moist and tender, and my experiment with the flavored rice worked perfectly. I almost wanted to eat another helping tonight, but will save it for breakfast tomorrow!! If you don't prefer orange flavored dishes you probably won't like this, but the orange flavor wasn't overwhelming. I couldn't even taste the soy sauce, which was great for me!!

Bittersweet Farm Chicken

1/2 c. flour
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 frying chicken, cut into serving pieces

8 T butter, divided
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. orange-flavored liqueur
1/4 c. honey
2 T orange zest
1 T soy sauce
whole cooked baby carrots

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Combine flour, salt, and pepper in a large plastic bag. Add chicken pieces, a few at a time, to the bag. Shake to coat completely with flour mixture.
3. Melt 4 Tablespoons of butter in a large baking pan.
4. Roll the chicken in the butter to coat all sides. Arrange the chicken skin-side down in a single layer in the pan.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, melt remaining 4 Tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in lemon juice, liqueur, honey, orange zest, and soy sauce. Reserve 2 Tablespoons of the mixture.
7. Remove chicken from the oven and turn the pieces over. Pour remaining honey mixture over the chicken. Continue baking, basting occasionally, for 30 minutes or until chicken is glazed and tender.
8. Toss remaining honey mixture with cooked carrots. Serve with chicken. Garnish as desired. Makes 4 servings.