Too Damned Easy Spicy Orange Chicken

     If there is any one thing we, as a species, can agree on, one unifying truth, it is that orange chicken is the bomb-diggety. The gold standard is Panda Express. That sickly sweet, orange, cloying sauce that sticks to everything. It fills you with happiness and self loathing as you order a three item combo and then ask for orange chicken for all three items. I decided to attempt to replicate that recipe at home. I totally failed. However, what I made was still really, really good. It still had the sticky sweet consistency tinged with orange, with a little heat added from some Sriracha. This is a really quick and easy recipe if you already have pepper jelly on hand. If you don't, you're going to have to make it. Alternately, you could probably get away with using orange marmalade mixed with some Sriracha or pepper flakes if you can't bring yourself to make the jelly from scratch. Give it a try and tell me what you think! You won't hurt my feelings; I just delete negative comments anyways. :) As always, notes are in blue.

Too Damned Easy Spicy Orange Chicken

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pounds breaded chicken tenders, cooked (have not breaded if you don't like breading or have a gluten intolerance)
• 1/2 pint pepper jelly (if you don't have access to pepper jelly, and you have the time, I recommend the recipe I use. Just click this link! Mind you, making pepper jelly from scratch renders this recipe "not too damned easy" but is still worth the effort)
• 3 tablespoons butter/margarine
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 bag (12-16 ounces) frozen broccoli, thawed
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 2 teaspoons white sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 green onion, chopped
• Sriracha to taste (optional) 

Directions

1. In a large, deep pan, add water, butter, and pepper jelly. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. simmer until water has reduced by about half. You'll know if you're ready if you run a spatula along the bottom and it leaves a trail in the jelly. 
2. In a small cup, add the corn starch and water and mix into a slurry. Stir into the pepper jelly in the pan.
3. Add the chicken, broccoli, extract, zest and sesame seeds. Toss to ensure everything is evenly coated. (if you're using Sriracha, or some other hot sauce, you would add it here. Alternately, you could just serve it with the meal and add it to your individual serving.)
4. Serve over white rice and garnish with the green onion.

Good times!

Curry Orange Chicken

     This here is a bit of a conundrum. I made this recipe a few weeks back. I started to write it up and never finishes. Now, for the life of me, I can't remember where I got the original recipe from! If anybody recognizes the original, please let me know and I will certainly give credit where credit is due. As for the actual recipe, I recall enjoying this immensely. Give it a try and see what you think. It's no Panda Express, but  I think you'll enjoy it. As always, notes and changes are in blue.

Orange Curry Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon ground coriander (omitted)
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (omitted)
• 2 tablespoons Hot Yellow Curry Powder from The Spice House
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, about 6 ounces each
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 navel oranges
• 2" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I was a little heavy-handed here and used about 3/4 teaspoon)
• 2 teaspoons sweet curry powder
• 1-1/2 cups chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons tamari (we substituted reduced sodium soy sauce since I didn't fancy blowing up like a water balloon)
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (easy trick. Put them on a plate and microwave for a minute. Then give them 30 second bursts until toasty. If they catch fire, you left them in too long)
• Slurry of 2 tablespoons corn starch and 2 tablespoons cold water
• Bag of frozen broccoli, defrosted

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the coriander, cayenne, and some salt and pepper (I used the hot curry powder since it contains all of those as well as turmeric, coriander, ginger, white and black pepper, cinnamon, fenugreek, fennel, nutmeg, arrowroot and cloves!) Season the chicken with the mixture.  Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat with the vegetable oil. Add the chicken and cook it on each side for 5 to 6 minutes, or until cooked through (I decided to cube the chicken before I cooked it. I wanted more of a take-out feel that I wouldn't have gotten with whole breasts)
2. While the chicken is cooking, zest the oranges and reserve the zest. Remove the peel and pith with a paring knife. Slice each orange into 1/4 inch thick discs and reserve (I just cut the orange sections into about 1/4 inch chunks.
3. Remove the chicken from the skillet to a plate. Return the skillet to medium-high heat and add the ginger garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes, then add the chicken stock and tamari (or low-sodium soy)  and turn the heat to high. Cook until the liquid reduces by half. Add the reserved orange zest, orange pieces and scallions. Continue to cook for 1 minute to heat the orange and scallions (in a fit of laziness, I threw all everything from this step as well as the defrosted broccoli in right off the bat. I wasn't excited about big hunks of orange and wanted them to break down in cooking). 
4. Add the sesame oil and sesame seeds.
5. If you're doing it as originally intended, serve whole chicken breasts over spicy noodles and top with sauce.
   If you're doing it my way: add the chicken and corn starch slurry and stir to fully mix. Turn the heat down and simmer until sauce thickens. Serve over rice.

Good times!