Monday, November 21, 2011

I cooked: Chicken a l'Orange with sauteed potatoes and caramelised onions

So, if you remember, during the run-up to Blogger MasterChef, I spent a lot of time experimenting in the kitchen. I've never eaten chicken a l'Orange before, but I have had duck a l'orange (which I like). Was browsing through Delia Smith's cookbook and found a recipe for orange sauce so decided to it with chicken. 

For this dish, if you know how to make sauces, the rest is pretty simple. For this dish, I decided to pan fry the chicken (simple!) and serve it with sauteed potatoes and caramelised onions. I was quite happy with the result, but if you prefer your chicken to be more moist, do swap for chicken thigh. Do be liberal with the sauce, the more the better I think. :)



Chicken a l'Orange with sauteed potatoes and caramelised onions
Preparation time: 20-25 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves 2

Ingredients
2 chicken breast, butterflied cut or sliced thinly
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
Freshly ground salt and pepper
2-3 tbsp plain flour
Parsley, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten

For the sauteed potatoes
5-6 potatoes (I used Russet), peeled and sliced thinly abt 8mm width
Freshly ground salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp olive oil
Butter

For the caramelised onions
1 large onion, sliced thinly
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp butter

For the sauce
2 medium sized orange
1 tbsp plain flour
275ml chicken stock
2 tsp brown sugar (you can omit the sugar if your oranges are sweet)
Freshly ground salt and pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice

1. Start by caramelising the onions first, since this takes the longest time. In a frying pan, melt the butter and then add the onions and honey, cooking and stirring continuously for 30-35 minutes. 

2. Marinate the chicken with oyster sauce, parsley and 1 tbsp of olive oil for about 15-20 minutes. 

3. While waiting, parboil the potatoes in salted boiling water. This will take about 8-10 minutes. Drain in colander and let them dry out for a crisper texture when frying them later. 

4. In a non-stick frying pan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil. Place plain flour and paprika on a flat plate and season with salt and pepper. Coat the chicken with the beaten egg, followed by the flour mixture and place in the heated pan. Cook each side for about 3 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat for all pieces of chicken.

5. For the sauteed potatoes, add 2 tbsp olive oil to a frying pan on medium high heat and then add the crushed garlic. Add the potatoes and cook them until golden brown (this will take about 10-15 minutes) and then season with salt and pepper. Towards the end of cooking, add a knob of butter for crispier skin. 

6. Finally, for the sauce, remove the rind from the oranges and cut them up into thin shreds and blanch them for 5 minutes in boiling water. Cut 4 slices of oranges and keep aside for garnish. Squeeze the juices out of the remaining oranges. Using the same pan used to cook the chicken (don't wash), sprinkle flour and stir to form a paste. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes to brown slightly, then add stock gradually to make a smooth sauce, then add the sugar. Cook for another minute before adding the orange juice and rind and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

7. To serve, place sauteed potatoes on a plate and then top it with the pan fried chicken. Drizzle with lots of orange sauce. Place a small portion of caramelised onion at the side and garnish with 2 slices of orange. 

 A sweet and savoury dish

Chicken a l'orange with sauteed potatoes and caramelised onions

Full set of photos available to view here. 

14 comments:

  1. what a cheerful-looking dish! :D

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  2. I love how you marinated the chicken with oyster sauce. Adds a taste of sea inside the chicken. :)

    I'll probably make this when I'm in melbourne next year. :D

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  3. Looks so GOOD! But chicken breast.. not dry ah? Not really a fan of chicken breast :P Hehe

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  4. Sean: It was my mum's idea to add the 2 orange slices, I love how bright the dish looked after tht. :)

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  5. Michelle: On my first few attempts, I marinated the chicken with soy sauce but it didn't taste that nice. But with oyster sauce, the flavour was much more intense. :)

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  6. iamthewitch: Oooh I've eaten chicken breast since I was a kid.. haha... it's my preferred choice :P Actually if u use fresh chicken, it wont be that dry.

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  7. looks awesomely cheery...it would have passed for a restaurant serving it. well done!

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  8. waa...nice cooked dish. just like fine dining..perfect for celebrations wey... =)

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  9. missyblurkit: Thank u! That's so kind of you :)

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  10. melissa: Aww so sweet of u.. maybe u can make this for Alex soon ya :)

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  11. Looks good but I think I would still prefer using duck though.

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  12. Chopinandmysaucepan: I think I prefer the duck version too, but duck (for me) is so hard to source in KL.

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  13. hahaha...ok ok...wait wen i move to my new house 1st...hopefully the outcome is the same...heheheh... =p

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  14. Duck... chicken... I wonder if the recipe would work with a nice piece of lean pork? :D

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