Oven-baked chicken with oranges is one of the most unusual ways of cooking, as well as combining this meat. The use of citrus fruits in this recipe allows you to give the chicken a pleasant aroma, juiciness and an unusual sweetish-sharp taste. It is also worth noting that this dish due to protein in meat and vitamins in citrus fruits is quite useful for the body.
For cooking, you can use not only the whole breast, but also the legs, drumstick or thigh. To give more piquancy, it is worth using a pair of cloves of freshly ground garlic.
Next will be presented a recipe for chicken with oranges in the oven.
What is necessary?
When choosing components for a dish, you must be very careful not to purchase an expired or poor-quality product that can ruin the dish.
To cook chicken with oranges you will need:
- Chicken meat (whole chicken, breast, drumstick, thigh, chicken legs) - 700 grams.
- Orange - 1 (the amount depends on the size of the chicken).
- Garlic - 2 cloves.
- Salt and spices to taste.
When buying poultry meat, you should pay attention to age and weight. Thus, it will be better to purchase young poultry meat, no more than a year old and weighing no more than 1.5 kilograms.
In this recipe, chicken with oranges in the oven will use chicken breast. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the breast is smooth and round. It is also necessary to make sure that there are no brown or gray spots on the skin. The best choice would be a chilled carcass that has not been frozen.
Oranges should be closely monitored and properly assess their quality. When choosing high-quality products, it is necessary to give preference to elastic samples with high weight. This will help to choose the most juicy fruits. Then the chicken cooked in the oven with slices of oranges will turn out juicy and tasty. Otherwise, the light and soft fruits will be dry or unripe, which will only spoil the intended dish.
Ingredient preparation
First of all, the meat must be washed thoroughly so as not to leave any small debris. After washing, the remaining water is removed with a paper towel. Further actions with meat depend on the selected elements. If it was decided to cook the whole chicken with oranges in the oven, then the carcass should be cut lengthwise through the whole breast and slightly beat off, after which it should be greased with spices from the outside and from the inside.
If you selected individual pieces, such as a breast, drumstick or thigh, then after washing the meat is simply greased with spices.
Next, you need to wash the oranges and cut them into circles, while not removing the peel. The way the fruit is laid out again depends on the type of meat selected. In the event that a whole carcass was chosen, then pieces of oranges must be shoved under the skin of the chicken. Raise the skin carefully so as not to damage it. The remaining slices are inserted inside the carcass. Sliced or ground garlic is added there.
In the case of separate parts of the chicken, it is necessary to do a little differently. First you need to grease the baking sheet with vegetable oil. After that, chicken and oranges are laid out in a uniform layer over the entire surface of the dishes.
Roasting
In preparation for baking in the oven, chicken with oranges, you need to do some action. If the whole chicken is being cooked, then first you need to tie the drumsticks so that the filling does not fall out. The carcass itself needs to be fixed with skewers or toothpicks. For the preparation of individual parts of the chicken additional steps are not required.
Next, the baking sheet is covered with foil, after which the chicken is placed on it. The dish is placed in the oven and baked at a temperature of 180 degrees. Depending on the weight of the bird, time will also vary (1 kg -1 hour and so on).
Almost the same actions are repeated with individual parts of the bird. Unfolded on a baking sheet, they are placed in the oven and baked at a temperature of 180 degrees.
At the end of cooking, the whole carcass needs to be taken out and all elements of fastenings removed. After that, you can serve chicken to the table.
Cooking chicken with oranges in the oven in the sleeve
In this case, a slight change occurs with respect to the composition of the ingredients and the cooking time. In the sleeve, the meat will cook much faster.
Now, to prepare this dish, 200 grams of sour cream are added to the main list of ingredients (depending on preferences, you can take cream), as well as a baking sleeve.
The first half of the recipe remains unchanged. And only after the oranges are sliced and placed in the chicken, the cooking process changes slightly.
(You can also not put oranges in a carcass, but simply cut sliced slices into a sleeve along with meat).
Meat preparation
To start, the carcass (or parts thereof) must be coated with sour cream or cream. After that, the meat is folded into a baking sleeve (the whole chicken is placed with the breast up), the ends of which are tied and chopped with clips (often go in a set with a sleeve). The meat is then placed in the oven, and the sleeve is pierced with a toothpick to allow steam to escape.
Baking dishes
When preparing chicken with oranges in the oven in the baking sleeve, one thing to consider is: at the end of cooking (about 15 minutes) the sleeve should be opened so that the meat can become crispy.
Cooking time, considering the last stage with opening the sleeve, is approximately 80 minutes. The meat is baked at a temperature of 180 degrees.
Ready chicken should be carefully removed from the sleeve and put on a dish. After that, the bird can be divided into equal portions or served immediately at the table.