Lemon and Orange Garlic Chicken

A simple Greek recipe upp’ed a notch.

I’ve been doing a lot of curries and Asian inspired dishes lately. Time to get back to the roots, or somewhere near it. Greece isn’t too far away from Italy. In fact, there’s a lot of Greek in my blood somewhere. Getting into a cooking rut is so easy. I’ve mentioned before that traditional families tend to stick to their own, but the great thing about being the child of an immigrant family in today’s world is that I can sample from every other culture and respect it for what it is. At some point, everyone on this planet is going to come from everywhere. I might as well get a good start on it now. Life is much more interesting that way, anyway.

Many traditional cuisines have very few ingredients. The fewer the better, really. When you have few ingredients, you can pinpoint every flavor. It takes a skilled palette to narrow down every ingredient. I have an aspiration to eventually be one of those food connoisseurs that can dissect a plate just by smelling it and having the tiniest of tastes.

Citrus is not used enough in main dishes. I think people have an aversion to it because citrus is seen as a separate food, not to be mixed with meats or vegetables. You have an orange as an orange…but on chicken? Noooo….However, it really adds a depth of flavor to the meat and makes it not only much more tender, but sweeter as well. Lemon chicken is so cliche. So when I looked at this recipe, I wanted to add an orange twist. They totally compliment each other, so why not. The smokiness of the paprika brings the chicken down to an earthy flavor. Oregano and garlic bring it all together and bridge the lightness of the fruit and deepness of the paprika very well.

Lemon and Orange Garlic Chicken

Lemon and Orange Garlic Chicken

2 chicken thighs
1 medium orange
5 medium potatoes, cubed

For the marinade

1 tsp of dried oregano
1 tsp of paprika
2 tbspn of lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tspn of orange juice
1 tbspn of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a ziploc bag, place chicken thighs and all ingredients of the marinade and mush it around until chicken is coated with the marinade. Set aside for an hour.

2. Place cubed potatoes in a baking pan and drizzle some olive oil to coat while sprinkling salt and pepper. Toss lightly.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken on top of cubed potatoes and drizzle remaining marinade over over chicken and potatoes.

4. Slice two rounds of the orange and cut each in half. Place on top of the chicken.

4. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender. Serve warm.