Chicken L’Orange with Dried Cranberries and Capers

chicken+and+rice1

When I make eye contact with some of favorite flavors in the refrigerator or pantry, look out! With this dish, I brought two favorite flavours: oranges and dried cranberries. I had leftover cranberries from a previous batch of biscotti (cranberry/almond) and an orange sitting on my kitchen counter. I decided to add some sweetness to the chicken and also a sweet way to use fresh ingredients!

Pre-heat oven 400 Degrees

Here’s another easy dish to prepare….

I layered in an oven baking dish: chicken breasts (seasoned with salt, pepper, red chili flakes). Added the following on top the chicken: fresh orange slices, dried cranberries, 2 tbsp. capers, lemon rind of one lemon (I then sliced the lemon and layered in the dish). ps – I could hear my mother’s voice (peccato) …… that is if I threw out the naked lemon! I added 1 cup of water to the edge of the dish and covered the dish with foil wrap.

In the over it goes…..after 30 minutes, I removed the foil and lowered the heat to 350 degrees for additional 15 minutes.

I made some brown rice and steamed some broccoli and served with the chicken. Ready to serve! I poured the juices of the fruit, cranberries, capers and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil with the rice!

I also have made this with slices of mango in the mix…..

My intern and I enjoyed a nice lunch !

Lady Marmelade!

mary's jam

Voulez Vous some fresh orange marmelade? With my busy schedule the last two months, I totally forgot I had oranges staring at me in the refrigerator. Has that happened to you?
I know me….if I didn’t do anything with the oranges, they would end up in the garbage next week. I thought I would either squeeze orange juice or be creative and make orange marmelade. Never made jam but I thought let’s give a try. It was so easy!

4 large seedless oranges

4 cups of cold water
8 cups sugar
Directions
Slice the oranges in half (crosswise) and thinly slice the oranges including the pulp and juices. I cut them directly into the pot to make sure no juices escaped! (Also, I try to stick to the one pot clean up)!
Add the cold water and bring it to a boil, stirring often. Turn off the heat and add 8 cups of sugar, and stir until it is dissolved. Cover the pot with it’s lid. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for approximately 6-8 hours. I made this in the evening and let it sit overnight.
The next day, bring it to a boil, at medium-high. Make sure you stir often so that it does not stick or burn. Turn the heat down to low for other 2 1/2 hours, and again, for an additional 1/2 hour at medium.
You now have your very own fresh orange marmelade! I filled a large jar and stored in my refrigerator.
I added a teaspoon to my plain yogurt this morning – it was really good! Try it with your favorite cake or as simple as serving with vanilla ice cream, a teaspoon of jam and some dark chocolate shavings.
I would also suggest serving this jam with Aurelio Barattini’s Bombolini (Italian donuts), they look really good. Check it out at: http://aureliobarattini.blogspot.com/
enjoy,
maria !