Glazed Honey-Orange Chicken

My son Danny and I really enjoyed watching this last season of The Next Food Network Star.  We were really hoping that Melissa D’Arabian would win, because we liked her approachable and sensible approach to cooking.  I felt like I could really relate to her personalilty and cooking style.  Anyway, she won so we now are enjoying her show.  This past week, she made a chicken recipe, which my son Danny asked me to make.  What was so great was that I learned from watching Melissa how to take the chicken breast off the bone and then slice it.  This chicken recipe is fantastic because it uses so few ingredients, yet it tastes absolutely delicious. I made very few changes to Melissa’s recipe.

for 4 people:

• 3 pieces of chicken breast, skin on, bone in (each piece is 1/2 chicken breast)
• 2 tablespoons light olive oil (or other cooking oil)
• kosher salt
• freshly cracked pepper
• 1/2 cup orange juice concentrate
• 4 tablespoons honey

Season chicken pieces with kosher salt and pepper on both sides.  Heat skillet that is  large enough for your chicken.  Then add the oil, heat for another minute till oil is hot.  Put chicken in skillet skin side down.  Keep flame on medium high.  Let chicken brown without touching it for about 5 minutes until the skin is very nicely browned and crisp.  You will not need to turn chicken over and cook it on the other side!  Take chicken out of pan and place it on a sheet pan covered with aluminum foil.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare your glaze for chicken.  In small saucepan, measure the frozen orange juice concentrate and the honey.  Sprinkle in a little kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper.  Bring to a boil, then let boil for about 5-8 minutes on low flame, stirring every minute or two, until mixture reduces and becomes a little thicker.  Brush both sides of chicken generously with glaze.  Place on middle rack of preheated oven, skin side up, and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, depending on thickness of chicken.  Take the chicken out one or two times, and brush on more of the glaze.  For the last 5 or so minutes of cooking, switch the oven setting to broil (low) and watch carefully to make sure chicken browns, but doesn’t burn.  You want to look for that beautiful caramelization on the skin. 

Take chicken out of oven, and make sure the chicken is cooked through.  Let it rest on a cutting board for about 10 minutes.  Then, carefully, take the chicken off the bone.  Then slice it into thickish slices on the bias.  Place on individual plates or a serving platter and drizzle with a little of the heated up glaze. 

Note:  I recommend you log on to foodnetwork.com and watch the video of Melissa D’Arabian making this dish, so you can see how to safely and easily take the chicken off the bone!