Blood Orange Wednesday

Photo lifted from Flickr.

We were lucky that our citrus trees seemed to come through the January freeze that did so much damage elsewhere in California--perhaps one of the advantages of living only 3 miles from the Pacific (you can imagine the others). So that means we're still rich in blood oranges, and even if you try, and we pretty much do, you can't make cocktails out of them all. So we also cook with them, and I thought you might like to know how to make a simple glaze that is wonderful on pork chops, chicken thighs, and pretty much any fish (well, maybe not Stanley or Abe Vigoda). Last night I smeared a frying pan with good virign olive oil and dumped in some chopped shallot till they got a bit soft. Then I added the chicken thighs, salted and peppered and dusted with some fresh thyme. Let them brown, flipped them, cooked the other side (it's about 8 minutes each side), then lacquered them with the blood orange glaze. Put the thighs in the oven for 3 minutes with the carrots that were roasting at 375, took them out, re-applied the last of the glaze, back into the oven for 3 more minutes, and the result was as gorgeous as it was delicious.

Blood Orange Glaze
(coats 2 pork chops or 4 chicken thighs)

2TBS + 1 TBS. butter
2 TBS. shallots minced
3/4 cup fresh blood orange juice, strained
1/8 cup Grand Marnier
1 TBS. fresh thyme chopped
salt & pepper

Melt the 2 TBS. butter over medium low heat in a small saucepan. Add the shallots and let soften. Add the juice, Grand Marnier, thyme, salt & pepper to taste. Turn up the heat and reduce till thickened, stirring frequently to test consistency and avoid sticking. At very end add final TBS. butter.