Chicken With Orange and Onion
In this recipe, adapted from my mother, Annette Gertner, an orange, pith, skin and all, provides a bittersweet counterpoint for tangy onion to season and dress a whole, broken-down chicken that’s browned on one side, then baked. Worcestershire sauce binds the flavors with a good amount of umami, while some bits of orange and onion paving the chicken skin caramelize in the oven and enrich the pan sauce.
- Total:
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- 1orange
- 3tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1medium-large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
- 1teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1(3 1/2- to 4-pound) frying chicken, cut in 10 pieces
- 2tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½cup dry white wine
Instructions
Step 1
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut orange in half and juice it. You should have at least 2/3 cup of juice. Add Worcestershire sauce. Set aside. Cut orange peel, with pith, into 1-inch pieces. Place orange peel and onion in food processor and pulse to chop fairly fine, or chop both together by hand. Spread half this mixture in a baking dish large enough to hold the chicken snugly in a single layer (a 9-by-13-inch pan should suffice).Step 2
Using a whisk or fork, mix ginger, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper (to taste) in a shallow bowl. Season the chicken with it, then dredge chicken pieces in flour to coat only the skin side. Heat butter in a large, heavy skillet on medium high. Brown chicken on skin side and transfer, skin side up, to the baking dish on the bed of orange and onion.Step 3
Pour orange juice, Worcestershire sauce and wine into skillet. Cook on medium for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping up any residue in the skillet. Stir in reserved minced chopped orange peel and onion. Pour over and around chicken. Bake for about 45 minutes, basting a few times, until dark meat juices run clear when pierced with a knife. Serve directly from the baking dish or transfer to a platter and serve.