Margarita Braised Chicken Thighs

This is a delicious chicken dish from Cooking Light that I made for the first and only time in 2005.  This is one reason why I am so happy to have this blog:  it encourages me to go through my cookbooks and revisit recipes I have made before.  So far in the past two weeks I have thrown out about 5 recipes that I had made once and now no longer feel are  ‘Blog Worthy’ (this is the terminology my husband and I use when critiquing recipes: haha!). But this one was ‘very tasty’, so enjoy!

The original recipe calls for 8 chicken thighs.  Since it’s only my husband and me, I only used 4 and it worked out great.  And there was no need to reduce the other ingredients, either.

Margarita Braised Chicken Thighs (Cooking Light October 2005)

1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons garlic powder

4 to 8  skinless, boneless chicken thighs (depending on how many people you are serving:  4 for 2 people, 8 for 4 people)

salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup thinly sliced onion (about 1 medium/large)

5 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup diced dried tropical fruit

1/2 cup fresh orange juice, from one juice orange

1/4 cup tequila

1 lime, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Canola oil spray a 9 x 9 inch glass baking dish (for 4 thighs) or an 11 x 17 inch glass baking dish (for 8 thighs).

Combine first 3 ingredients in a glass pie dish.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and dredge chicken in flour mixture.

Heat oil in a large non stick skillet over medium heat and add chicken.  Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.  Transfer chicken to glass baking dish.

Combine dried fruit, juice and tequila in a medium glass bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes.

Add onion to skillet and cook for 3 minutes.  Add garlic to pan and cook for 1 minute.  Pour fruit mixture into pan, bring to a boil and cook for one minute.

Pour onion/fruit mixture over chicken.  Arrange lime slices on top.  Bake for 20 minutes or until chicken is done.  Serve with Green Rice.

Green Rice (from Cooking Light)

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup of rice (I use Basmati Rice)

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup finely chopped flat parsley (the recipe calls for cilantro but I don’t like it’s flavor.  Use what you like)

3/4 cup sliced green onions (optional:  I did not use, it’s up to you)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from about 1 lime)

You can make the rice while the chicken is cooking in the oven.

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a medium sauce pan.  Add rice, cover and simmer on very low for 15 to 20 minutes until water is absorbed and rice is done.

Remove from heat and stir in butter until combined.  Add the parsley, green onions if using and lime juice and stir to incorporate.  Serve with the chicken thighs.

dicing the dried tropical fruit:

mise en place:

sauteing flour dredged chicken and into the baking dish:

onions and garlic sautéed:

add fruit mixture:

pour over chicken and top with lime slices:

after 20 minutes in oven:

making the Green Rice:

and serve!