Sesame Ginger Chicken

Last Saturday night I made a nice dinner for me, hubby, sister and mom. It was a great dinner! On the menu were Sesame Ginger Chicken (Girl Can’t Cook by Cinda Chavich), All that Jasmine (Eat, Shrink & Be Merry) and Honey Roasted Carrots (also from Girl Can’t Cook).

The Sesame Ginger chicken was to die for! Heavy asian influences including loads of ginger and some lovely toasted sesame oil. I didn’t prepare very well for this recipe since it was supposed to be marinated a minimum of 2 hours but up to 24 hours. I only marinated it for 1 hour. One hour was sufficient – chicken tasted great, but 2 hours definitely would have been even better! Chicken was really easy to make, but I cooked at a hotter temperature and for longer than the recipe said to. Here is the recipe for the chicken:

Marinade:

• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup liquid honey
• 1 tbsp peeled and minced fresh ginger
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 dried red chili pepper, crushed
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• juice of 1/2 lemon (approx 2tbsp)
• chopped cilantro to garnish

Microwave sesame oil, honey, orange juice, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, ginger and red chili until honey is melted. Stir well and set aside to cool. Marinade chicken for 2hrs to overnight. Bake at 375F for approximately 45 minutes, basting a couple of times with pan juices.

Remove chicken and tent with foil to keep it warm. Pour cooking juices into small pan and boil for about 10 minutes until sauce is reduced into a thick glaze.

Slice chicken, spoon sauce over chicken and garnish with cilantro. Enjoy!

All that Jasmine was a jasmine rice cooked with coconut milk and chicken broth.
Add in currants, sautéed onions and spices for a fantastic accompaniment to the chicken.

Honey roasted carrots were great – instead of roasting in the oven I pan fried them since I didn’t have enough room in the oven to roast them. They still turned out fantastic though I would like to try the recipe again when I am able to roast them just to see about the difference in taste.

All of the recipes were easy to do and something most people would enjoy to eat while still being exotic enough to appeal to those who like ethnic food! Here is a picture of the plated dinner (minus the carrots since my mom ate the rest of them!):