Orange Dust (with chicken and a salad)

Orage Dust. (with chicken, and a goat cheese/lemon dust salad)

Orange dust is really simple and goes great with Duck, chicken and so many other things. It adds flavor to sauces and glazes and saves time reducing liquids to get the flavor.

Ingredients:
2 oranges (Organic)
1  Cup Water
¼ Cup Sugar
Baking parchment or Tin foil
Spice grinder or mortal and pestle

Heat oven to 300F

First wash your oranges well, you’re going to be eating the outside that has been treated to one degree or another. For this reason I like to use an organic orange and give it a good scrub. Next, use your vegetable peeler to remove the outer rind trying for large strips about the length of the orange.

Lay out the strips and take a small sharp knife and cut off all the white part of the skin as close to the outer orange side of the skin as you can without cutting through it. Don’t look too closely though as juice will be popping out and I’m convinced it aims for your eyes.

Put your water and sugar on to boil and throw in your orange peels. Turn the heat down to a low boil and let them go until they begin to change texture and the liquid begins to turn into a syrup.

Rub your foil or parchment with a little oil and lay it on a baking tray.

Fish out the peels and press them between paper towel then place them on your parchment or foil and put them in the oven at 300F

What you want is for the sugar to begin to turn into crystals on the outside of the peel and the rinds to feel brittle but not turning brown. The process should take about ten minutes.

When you think they’re done, take them out and let them cool, try to break one in half, if it bends they’re not ready yet, put them back in. When they snap they’re ready to go in the grinder.

I used a spice grinder and turned them into dust but you can play with a variety of different textures. As I write this I’m thinking of adding the dust to icing or cheesecake but last night I used it to make orange chicken as described below.

Orange Chicken (or duck)

Ingredients:
Skin on Duck or Chicken breast.
Orange dust
Salt
Juice from the oranges you used to make the dust
2 Tbsp Sugar

Heat oven to 400F

Put the juice from the oranges, the sugar and 1 Tsp of orange dust in a small pan and simmer until it is reduced to syrup.

This recipe works best if you have Iron or Steel pans with no rubber or plastic on them; this way you can throw them directly into the oven. If you’re using aluminum or plastic handled pans (like me) you can use a baking tray and foil.

Clean your Chicken or Duck breasts giving them a wash under water and cutting off any extra fat or bone. If you got a breast with bone on it remove it by slipping your knife along the ribs, then follow the bone with your knife and use your fingers to feel where the flesh and the bone separate and cut the meat free. It’s very easy but looks a little daunting.

On a separate plate mix 50/50 Orange dust and salt making a bed to lay the chicken breast in. Do so skin side down, coating the meat completely.

In your pan, heat a good amount of oil until it is smoking hot then lay (carefully) the breasts skin side down into the oil and reduce the heat so the meat can fry without burning. Cook like this for about 5 minutes or until nicely browned then put the pan in the oven at 400F  If you’re using the baking pan, put the chicken on it skin side down on a little oil.

Cook in the oven for about ten minutes then remove and put back on the stove. Flip the chicken and cook it the rest of the way, browning up the opposite side a little.

Transfer to a plate and serve with the orange reduction lightly drizzled over the top.

Goat cheese and sautéed onion salad

Ingredients:
Red onion
Lettuce
Cucumber
Tomato
plain goats choose
mixed spices (Basil, thyme, rosemary, sage)
Black pepper
Coarse salt (Hawaiian red salt is nice)
Lemon powder
3tbsp Balsamic
1 tbsp honey
¼ tsp mustard
1 tsp flour/starch
Olive oil

This is a very simple salad that can be adapted in a variety of ways.

First cut up your veg and throw them in a bowl.

In a small pan heat your balsamic, honey and mustard then add a little flour or if you made mashed potatoes like me, add a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

Cut up your red onion into even, thin, strips and sauté over a low heat until the correct texture is achieved.

Create a rub out of your ground spices, salt, pepper and lemon powder and roll the cheese in it.

Put the cheese in the oven at about 400F for 10 minutes or so, until it is warm to the touch and holds its shape. Don’t leave it for too long or it will melt.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss, then put in a bowl, add sautéed onions then place the goat cheese on top.

If you don’t like the herbs you can use crushed nuts and berries.

Enjoy!