White Wine Braised Chicken Thighs

Tender and moist. Easier than it seems. Fancy enough for company!

5 - 8 skinless chicken thighs, bone-in or not 

black pepper

4 cloves garlic

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1 lemon 

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 Tablespoon butter

parsley

Rice for serving

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In your frying pan, arrange the chicken thighs, skin side up. If they are boneless, roll them back up as though they still have a bone. 

Sprinkle with pepper. 

Add minced garlic, wine and thyme. Lay lemon slices on top of each thigh. 

Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook for 30 minutes. 

After 30 minutes, uncover. Move thighs to outside edge of pan and boil away liquid until you've reduced total liquid to about 1/2 cup. This may take about 5 minutes. 

When reduction is complete, add butter, lemon juice and parsley. Stir until smooth and slightly thickened.

Serve with rice, spooning sauce over meat.

Reroll the thighs, if you are using boneless, so they look like they have bones in them still.

Pepper, don't be stingy. 

Thyme

Wine

Big fat garlic cloves to mince and add

Cut your lemon so you have enough slices for each thigh. Not too thick.

Pick out the seeds unless you like eating them.

Place over each thigh, bring to boil.

Cover and simmer 30 minutes.

It's a good time to start the rice.

Measure out lemon juice

Snip some parsley. Did you know parsley stays green all winter? Plant a big pot and keep it near a door for easy reach. If you put it somewhere where it won't get buried in snow, you can have fresh parsley all winter!

Parsley is washed and chopped, all ready to go.

Remove the lid after 30 minutes and raise temperature.

Boil to reduce sauce to 1/2 cup.

Remove pan from heat to stop the boiling, tip and estimate the amount of liquid you have left. This looks to be about 1/2 cup.

Add butter

Lemon juice

Parsley. Stir up well.

Serve with rice and a veggie. Spoon sauce over chicken and lemon.

Orange Chicken with Asian Vegetables

A favorite of many Chinese restaurant dinners. A simple one to make at home!  

2lbs. chicken cut into bite-sized pieces

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup flour

2 Tablespoon cornstarch

oil for pan

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 Tablespoon minced ginger

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (don't worry, it's not a spicy dish)

1/4 cup chopped green onion

Optional: 1/3 cup sugar, if you like your orange chicken on the sweet side

1.5 Tablespoon soy sauce

5 Tablespoon white vinegar

1 cup orange juice

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 package frozen stir-fry vegetable mix (or your choice of vegetables)

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Combine flour and cornstarch, mix well.

Mix cut chicken into bowl with beaten egg. Take pieces out and dredge in flour mixture. Shake off excess and fry in hot oil.  Saute until nicely browned and thoroughly cooked. Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken to a plate to keep warm. Cover with foil and place in warm oven. In the same pan, saute the garlic, ginger, red pepper and green onions. Cook long enough to wilt onions, just a couple of minutes. 

Add vegetables at this time, cook only long enough to cook them tender-crisp. Don't overcook. 

Add soy sauce, vinegar, juice and zest. Also add sugar at this time, if you choose to use it. 

Cook sauce until sugar dissolves and it thickens, 5 minutes at most. 

To serve, add chicken to rice and pour vegetables with sauce over. 

Cornstarch and flour, mix well

Orange juice and other ingredients

Veggies I'm going to add. Feel free to use what you like best!

More ingredients

One egg to beat

Cut up chicken, trimming off excess fat. If you are using breast meat, no trimming necessary. 

Plunge chicken into egg to wet

Take pieces from egg and into flour and cornstarch mixture

Coat well

Place into hot oil with a space between so they don't stick together

Brown well. Keep the temperature high and keep moving them around. You don't want soggy and you don't want one 2lb. mass of chicken blob. :)

Turn and stir as they brown

Remove to paper toweling as they cook

Once they are all done, keep warm

In hot pan, cook veggies. I stir-fry my veggies before adding sauce.

Add sauce, allow to thicken.

Stir till it thickens, don't overcook. No one likes squishy vegetables.

You can toss chicken into sauce, or pour sauce over chicken on the plate.

Serve with white rice.