Spicy Blood Orange And Lemongrass Chicken
- About 3 lbs. blood oranges (any variety)
- 2 stalks fresh lemongrass, ends trimmed and coarse leaves discarded, thickly sliced
- 4 teaspoons sugar, divided
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon red chile flakes
- 4 small, boned chicken breast halves with skin (2 1/4 lbs. total)
- 2 cups canola oil, divided
- 4 large shallots, thinly sliced crosswise
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce
- 1 large Persian cucumber or 1/4 English cucumber
- 1/3 cup cilantro leaves
- Zest 2 large or 3 medium oranges and set oranges aside. In a food processor, whirl zest, lemongrass, 2 1/2 tsp. sugar, the salt, and chile flakes until very finely minced, scraping inside of container several times. Set aside 1 tbsp. In a medium bowl, turn chicken in 1 tbsp. oil to coat. Pat evenly all over with remaining lemongrass mixture. Chill, covered, at least 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, cook shallots in remaining oil (about 2 cups), stirring often, until deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer shallots to paper towels to drain and crisp. Set oil aside.
- While shallots cook, cut peel (including all white pith on outside of fruit) from unzested oranges, following curve of fruit. Working over a bowl, cut between inner membranes to free segments. Squeeze juice from membranes into bowl. Tip juice into a measuring cup; if needed, squeeze zested oranges to make about 6 tbsp. juice. Return juice to segments; set aside. Preheat oven to 450u0b0.
- Heat a 12-in. ovenproof frying pan over medium-high heat. Swirl 1 tbsp. shallot oil in pan and brown chicken, skin side down, 4 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and turn chicken over. Roast chicken in oven until no longer pink in center (cut to test), 12 to 16 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add lime juice, fish sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp. shallot oil, reserved 1 tbsp. lemongrass mixture, and remaining 1 1/2 tsp. sugar to oranges. (Save remaining oil for other uses.) Slice cucumber into 1/4-in. rounds. Cut slices in half, then into small triangles.
- Set chicken on plates. With a slotted spoon, lift oranges in bowl from dressing and arrange over chicken. Scatter cucumber, half of shallots, and the cilantro on top. Pour dressing into a pitcher. Serve chicken immediately, with dressing and more shallots on the side.
- Make ahead: Through step 2, up to 1 day, shallots stored airtight.
blood oranges, coarse, sugar, kosher salt, red chile flakes, chicken, canola oil, shallots, lime juice, fish sauce, cucumber, cilantro
Taken from www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-blood-orange-lemongrass-chicken (may not work)