Chicken a l'orange

I put all of these things in a bowl and marinated the stuffed chicken leg pieces for the afternoon.

Then I browned the chicken in a skillet, coating the underside with flour to thicken the sauce later. After flipping the chicken, I poured back in the marinade, and filled it to capacity with vegetables (onions, carrots and zuccini). The whole pan went in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 in a preheated oven.

After the chicken was done, I took it out to let it rest, and reduced the sauce until it coated the back of a spoon, about 7 minutes.

I was disappointed with this dish. Everything was cooked to the right degree, but to my taste it was mediocre. I like the idea of an orange based sauce, but the marinade didn't really do anything. The garlic didn't flavour the chicken at all, but ended up as a tasty treasure to be found underneath the skin (which I didn't eat). The sauce tasted good, but I should have crushed up the pink peppercorns instead of leaving them whole, and cooked the vegetables separately. I will play with the orange sauce idea without the grapefruit as it was unnoticeable. This recipe isn't worth trying on your own.

Orange - Round 3

With a two and oh record, we refused to admit defeat and went for another go at an old foe: orange zest. First we tried a plain shot with our new found method of coating the bottom of the holder with the ground up spice. It clearly had potential but wasn't quite there yet. Though pleasant enough to drink, I still found it a bit oily and somewhat raw. A little too much like the taste you get when you bite into an orange peel for my liking, especially in the aftertaste.

Next we tried to temper that intensity by turning the shot into a macchiato, or adding a bit of micro foamed milk to it. It tempered the raw flavour alright, but a bit too much. I found the brew quite subtle, as if it were merely orange scented rather than infused. Floral is a good word. Hoping for a creamsicle air to it, I was a bit disappointed. The texture and mouth-feel of the macchiato was quite nice and creamy but the flavour just wasn't there.

But the day wasn't done yet. One last attempt to salvage the essence of orange came with the addition of chocolate to the brew. A bit of chocolate syrup to the bottom of the espresso cup changed everything. In fact, it was a world of difference. At first sip, I made as close to a squeal noise as this baritone's voice is capable of making. Delightful!

The chocolate rounded out the middle of the palate, mitigating the force of the zest. The sweetness toyed with the tip of my tongue as the orange flavour danced around its middle. It reminds me of what I imagine a chocolate orange would taste like if it were made by a master swiss chocolatier. The only downside was the aftertaste. I'm not sure if it was a throwback from earlier shots, but I definitely still had a patch of that raw oil clinging to my taste buds for some time after the last drop. I don't care if adding chocolate is virtually cheating, this one is going into the win pile.

Blood Orange Espresso

Success! Not quite in the way I'd envisioned, but I did ask for the unexpected. Today's espresso infusion was again orange, this time a blood variety but I don't think it matters. I air dried the orange zest this time, and ground it up to a fine powder in my newly purchased mortar & pestle. The aroma! As true an orange smell as can be. If therapy was needed, it would have done the trick, I'm certain.

A half blood oranges worth of zest sprinkled atop the espresso powder before tamping definitely changed the flavour and mouth feel of the brew. The orange didn't sabre its way through to a sharp note as I thought it might. It loitered at the back, nearly out of view for the first few sips. Slowly its true character emerged, oily tentacles coated my palate, growing more confident with each passing moment. A full climax never materialized but remained a subtle suggestion of possibility.

By the end of the cup, after the last drop was downed, the fun really started. The citrus oils lingered on my palate and mixed playfully with the espresso aftertaste. This to me was the most enjoyable and interesting part of the experiment. If I had been eating anything, as I often do with my daily dose, the effect would have been lost amid a flurry of macerating crumbs. The flavours danced around each other for about five minutes until they dwindled into memory.

Mr. Mad Bean and I agreed that it was a thoroughly enjoyable drink, one that definitely warrants more testing. And test I'm happy to do.