Recipe of the Month

Chicken in a Spiced Orange Sauce

Cargoes Belfast's brilliant café and deli, Cargoes, is our source for this month's funky recipe. It was a featured recipe in one of their Cargoes Cookery Workshops. If chicken and oranges sounds strange, be assured that it has long been a favourite pairing in mediterranean countries. Nigella seeds are onion seeds and can be bought at your local Asian supermarket. The wine suggestion comes from Jane Boyce, who recently qualified after years of hard struggle and study! as Ireland's first female Master of Wine. The MW examinations are agreed as the most demanding and difficult examinatins for any qualification, and MW's are as rare as hen's teeth Ireland nowadays has a grand total of 4. So, hearty congratulations to Jane Boyce, Master of Wine.

If you'd like more information about Cargoes cookery workshops or if you need any of the ingredients, do visit their delicatessen and cafe at 613 Lisburn Road Belfast, or contact Mary and Radha on +44 (28) 9066 5451.

Chicken in a Spiced Orange Sauce

Serves 6

Ingredients

6 chicken breast fillets
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 oz butter
2 red onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
3 thin-skinned oranges, each cut into 8 segments with the peel on
2 teaspoons nigella seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons sultanas
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 red chillies, sliced
A few fresh mint leaves
Juices of 2 oranges
150 ml/5 fl oz water salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

Heat the butter and oil in a casserole and lightly brown the chicken.
Lift out and set aside.
Add the onions, garlic, orange segments, nigella and coriander seeds to the pan and cook for a few minutes
Stir in the honey, sultanas, ground cinnamon, cinnamon stick, mint leaves and chillies and pour in the orange juice and water
Bring the liquid to the boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer for a few minutes
Return the chicken to the pan, season, cover with a lid and cook for about 25 minutes
Sprinkle some chopped mint over the chicken before serving

Recommended wines: Gewurztraminer Reisling 2000 (Rosemount, Australia)
A perfumed and aromatic wine with upfront fruity flavours, which will cope well with the multitude of flavours in this delicious dish.

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Recipe of the Month

Chicken in a Spiced Orange Sauce

Chicken in a Spiced Orange Sauce

text © John & Sally McKenna illustrations © Ken Buggy

text © John & Sally McKenna
illustrations © Ken Buggy