My wife loves my variation on the classic Chicken a l’Orange recipe and the other night I decided to whip it up for dinner. There was one problem; I was out of white wine! I know, I couldn’t believe it either. It was Sunday though and the liquor store was closed, unfortunately, so I looked around and bam! We had champagne! Champagne is a good substitute for white wine being similar in flavor and infuses quite well. We both love mimosa’s and I figured, what the hell, let’s make it a little different tonight. Out came the champagne and voila, Mimosa Chicken was born. Here’s the recipe:
Serves: 2
Time: 5 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking time.
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken breast, split and trimmed. If you wish, to cut the cooking time down, you can use a tenderizer to flatten the chicken some, reducing the cooking time in the oven.
- 1/2 cup champagne
- 1 cup orange juice, not concentrated
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- A pinch of fresh rosemary
- 2-3 drops of vanilla extract
- Salt and pepper to season the chicken, if desired
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil or whatever oil you desire (other oils add different flavors).
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- Season the chicken with the salt and pepper.
- In a medium skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium to medium-high heat.
- Add the chicken breasts to the pan and sear 5 minutes per side.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and place onto a baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.
- Using the same pan, over medium heat, add the champagne to deglaze the pan. Reduce by half.
- Add the orange juice, vanilla extract and rosemary and bring to a low simmer.
- Stir in the brown sugar until it dissolves. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove the sauce from the burner and strain out the rosemary with a sieve.
- Return the sauce to the pan and bring it back to a low simmer.
- To thicken the sauce, use a tsp of corn starch mixed with water and slowly stir into the sauce to desired thickness.
- By this time the chicken should be cooked throughout. Serve the chicken over a bed of rice pilaf, or plain white or brown rice, and pour the sauce liberally over the top.
And there you have it. Simple, easy and it really does taste delicious! Feel free to omit the rosemary or vanilla extract, they just add a little extra, interesting flavor to the dish.
