Apricot Orange Glazed Chicken

This is one of my husbands favorite dinners and it's so easy. Really, it's so easy you'll end up making it again and again. And then again and when you have guests for dinner you'll make it again. I'm not kidding! It's that good. Really delicious and really easy. Two things I love in a Chicken Dinner. I'm not sure where I got the idea for this but I've been making it a long time. Even before we had kids, that long! And it never fails to impress. So please, if you try one recipe on this blog, try this one.

Here is what you need, just 4 things: your favorite seasoned salt (I usually swear by "Pappy's Low Sodium" but they didn't have any at the store so I tried this one, not a bad second.), a jar of apricot jam or preserves, orange juice and chicken (I like leg quarters but you can use any combination of cut up chicken pieces.). 

Preheat your oven to 425°F. Lay the chicken, skin side up, on a rimmed cookie sheet or roasting pan. I like this "Large Bar Pan" from Pampered Chef. I don't use it often because the feel of stoneware gives me the willies. Like nails on a chalkboard, but for roasting chicken it is awesome, I just use pot holders and try not to touch it. If you need to, trim off the excess fat and skin using kitchen shears.

Sprinkle the chicken generously (both sides) with the seasoned salt. Then turn the preheated oven down to 375°F and roast for 30 minutes. DO NOT turn the chicken.

While the chicken is roasting, heat 1 cup of apricot preserves and 3 tablespoons orange juice in a small sauce pan, over low heat. You don't want to cook or boil the mixture, just get it to melt and mix together.

All melted and ready. Just keep it warm on the stove until you need it.

You can also do this in the microwave.

After 30 minutes, baste the chicken with the apricot orange mixture and put back into the oven for 10 minutes. Then baste again and back in for another 10 minutes.

Total cooking time is 50 minutes at 375°F. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.

For a super easy (and complimentary) side dish, mix up a box of seasoned wild rice mix according to the directions, adding 1 cup of chopped dried fruit at the beginning. It should cook the same amount of time as the rice. This bag of fruit bits is really convenient but just use an assortment of any dried fruit you have on hand.

And there you have it. A super easy, very tasty chicken dinner. You can use this same glaze to cook chicken outside on the grill. It's a nice departure from BBQ Sauce. Enjoy!

Apricot Orange Glazed Chicken

Skin-on assorted chicken pieces 

(approx. 6 servings, a whole cut up fryer works well, or leg quarters)

Seasoned Salt - to taste

1 C. apricot preserves

3 T. orange juice

Preheat oven to 425°F

Trim fat and extra skin from chicken pieces as needed. Season both sides well with seasoned salt and lay skin side up in a shallow roasting pan or rimmed cookie sheet. Turn oven down to 375°F and roast chicken for 30 minutes. Do not turn chicken.

Melt 1 cup apricot preserves with 3 tablespoons orange juice and whisk together. Baste chicken pieces and roast an additional 10 minutes. Baste again and roast another 10 minutes. Remove chicken from oven and let rest 10-15 minutes.

Serves 6

Chicken Jambalaya

My sincere apologies to any southerners out there. I'm really not sure what a true Jambalaya is, I'll have to research that one, so calling this dish Jambalaya may be a huge culinary faux pas. Forgive me? My mom made this dish often and called it Jambalaya, so I grew up calling it Jambalaya and so now my family calls it Jambalaya. It really can't be too criminal to do so, it's a fun word to say. Jaum-ba-lie-ah. Kind of rolls off the tongue don't ya think?

We'll regardless of what it ain't, what it is is a simple, easy to make one pot meal. It comes together pretty quickly and the possibilities for variation are endless. I'm showing you here a pretty simple version but don't be limited. If you want to spice things up, add some diced green chilies or use a spicy sausage or do both. For more flavor saute some celery and red bell pepper with the onion. Toss in some nuts to add some crunch or give it a Moroccan vibe with some cumin and dried fruit. Skip the chicken and use shrimp* or use both. Or use any kind of seafood*. See where I'm going here. This is a very forgiving dish so tweak, fiddle and adjust to your hearts content, make it your own. I don't mind.

Here's what you need: bone-in chicken - skin removed (a whole cut up fryer works well, I didn't have one so I just used drums and thighs, you could also use boneless, skinless breasts or thighs but you really get more flavor with the bone-in chicken. Use what you like.), olive oil, onion (Yea! my husband is out of town so I'm using a real onion. I'm so excited!), some sausages (I like these nitrate free chicken and apple sausages, adds a bit of sweetness.), white rice, chicken broth, tomato sauce, garlic powder (feel free to use real garlic and add it with the onion), salt and pepper.

Give your onion a nice medium dice.

Ohhh, this is going to be good. Real onion, a treat for me!

Slice the sausage up into 1/4 inch pieces.

Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven set over a high heat. (This is the Le Creuset French Oven that my wonderful husband gave me for Christmas. I literally screamed when I open it. It's a magic pot. Everything turns out amazing. Get yourself one this very minute. Expensive, yes. . . but worth every penny!) Add the chicken pieces and brown on both sides. You may need to do this in two separate batches so you don't crowd things. The idea is not so much to cook the chicken but to get some good color on the outside and some flavorful brown bits on the bottom of the pot.  Remove the chicken to a plate lined with a few paper towels.

Reduce your heat to medium and add the onion. Cook just until softened. I got distracted and some of the onion browned a bit quickly but, again, this dish is forgiving.

When the onion is soft, add the sausage and cook until both the onion and sausage begin to get some nice color.

Add the rice and saute for just a minute or two. Then pour in the chicken broth and scrape up all those flavorful browned bits from the bottom of the pot. 

(In fancy terms "deglaze" the pan.)

Add the tomato sauce, garlic powder, pepper, salt and a cup of water. (Feel free to adjust the salt and pepper to suit your tastes, I'm notorious for under salting and I love a lot of pepper.) Give it a good stir and add the chicken back to the pot. Bring the whole thing to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover and let cook for 20-30 minutes until the rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Give the pot a stir now and again to prevent the rice from burning on the bottom.

OK, doesn't look like much in the picture. If I was a better food stylist I'd have a sprig of parsley for color, to garnish the plate. But, as usual, I wasn't thinking that far ahead. I'll get better, I'll work on it, I promise. So what you have is a great one pot meal. Serve it with a fresh green salad and some crusty bread. And the best part is that it makes great leftovers!

Chicken Jambalaya

1 whole cut up fryer, skin removed (or 6-8 pieces bone-in chicken)

2 T. olive oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

12 oz. sausage, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces

1-1/2 C. white rice

1 14.5 oz. can chicken broth

1 15 oz. can tomato sauce

1 C. water

1 t. garlic powder

1 t. pepper

1/2 t. salt

Heat oil in a large Dutch Oven over high heat. 

Brown chicken 3-5 minutes on each side. Remove from pan. 

Reduce heat to medium and add onion. Cook until soft. 

Add sausage and continue cooking until both onion and sausages begin to brown.

Add rice and saute for 1-2 minutes. 

Add chicken stock, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add tomato sauce, water, garlic powder, pepper and salt. Stir to combine.

Add chicken pieces back into the pot and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes until rice is tender. Stir a few times during cooking to prevent rice from burning on the bottom.

Serves 4-6


*If you use shrimp or seafood it cooks much more quickly than chicken. Saute it at the beginning just like the chicken but don't add it back into the pot until the last 5-10 minutes of cook time.