Judy's Citrus-Garlic Chicken

This chicken is simple and good, and it's much healthier for you than the fried kind made by The Colonel! I asked Judy Golnick, my husband's sister to send us a couple of her best recipes--and I'm so grateful she sent this! It's quick and easy and is a good way to use up extra oranges you may have left-over from those big bags they sell at Trader-Joe's. If you only have lemons, you can substitute them for the limes, but the limes make this really special. I added a sauce (that is optional for calorie-counters) just in case you want a little more orange. The original delicious marinade is by Clare Robinson of Food Network.Com.

Ingredients:

4-5 large bone-in, skin on the chicken, about 3 lbs (I used boneless, skinless becuz I had 'em)
Juice of 1 large navel orange, or two small navel oranges.
Zested skin from 1/2 large whole navel orange or one small navel orange. (zest or grate off only the orange part--the white part is bitter)
2 limes, one zested, both juiced
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and smashed
1 t salt, plus more for seasoning
freshly cracked black pepper (regular pepper works fine, too)

Directions:

Put the chicken in a large bowl. Put orange and lime zests and fruit juice in a small mixing bowl. Whisk in the olive oil, garlic, 1 t salt, and a generous grind of pepper. Pour the marinade over the chicken and marinate 20-30 minutes, but now more that 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees OR heat up your BBQ grill. Put chicken on a rack on a baking sheet, or just in a baking pan. Drizzle a small spoonful of marinade on each piece of chicken and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake until the juices run clear when the chicken is stabbed with a knife. Fear not! The chicken will not retaliate! Use a couple of very thin slices of orange (see picture) to dress it up and serve to nearest people with mouths open.

If you are using a BBQ grill, spray or brush any parts of the chicken that are without skin with cooking oil (or it will stick). Then season with salt and pepper. I use boneless skinless chicken and find grilling is good because the black stripes on it make it prettier than just a naked white blob. Where was I? Oh yes, grill chicken until juices run clear (see above). Drizzle an extra spoonful of marinade on top of each breast, put thin orange slices on it, and serve.

Optional Orange Sauce:

I often grill the heck out of boneless skinless chicken, so it's important to me to have a nice sauce I can make just in case it turns out too dry. So, here's what I came up with...

Make a roux with 2 T butter melted in a saucepan (on medium heat)and mixed with 2 T flour. Stir until it bubbles and no longer tastes like raw flour. About 3-5 minutes. Add 1 cup fresh sqoozed orange juice, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Stir until thick and yellow. Spoon over plated chicken, decorate with thin orange slices, and serve. YUM!