Maple-Orange Glazed Chicken

Oh, baby! This is a keeper. I just tried this recipe from the October/November '08 issue of Cook's Country magazine. Not only did hubby like it, both kids liked it, too! This will be showing up on our plates often. Most of the recipes I try from Cook's Country are ones that I will make over and over again. I'm a big fan of America's Test Kitchen, who puts out CC and Cook's Illustrated. All the testing they put into their recipes makes each one turn out great.


For the Maple-Orange Glazed Chicken, you need to cut 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts in half, cross-wise. Kitchen shears are very helpful here in cutting across the bone. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. For the sauce, whisk together 1/2 cup real maple syrup, 2 teaspoons dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon grated orange zest, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, and 1 teaspoon minced, fresh thyme together and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large, oven safe skillet and brown the skin side of the chicken. Flip the chicken over and put the skillet into a 475-degree oven until the chicken is brown and cooked through (15 minutes). Put the chicken on a plate and cover with foil.

Pour off the fat from the pan and add the sauce ingredients. Cook the sauce over medium heat until thickened. Add salt and pepper as desired. Add the chicken to the sauce and turn to coat.


I ended up over cooking my chicken slightly; it was a bit on the dry side. But, the sauce made up for some of the moisture. The next day, the left-overs were actually quite moist. I think that next time I will double the sauce ingredients so there is more of that delicious goodness to go around.