When I opened my refrigerator this morning to pull out my creamer for my coffee, the first two things I spotted were a bottle of sriracha and oranges, front and center in my fruit drawer. I was trying to decide how to season my chicken thighs for dinner tonight and when I saw those two items, I decided that’s how I’d season them.

I had a package of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs in the freezer that I placed in the refrigerator to thaw last night.

Into a glass measuring cup, I poured a 1/2 cup of olive oil. To that, I added 4 cloves of fresh, minced garlic before adding 4 tablespoons of sriracha sauce, along with the zest and juice of one lime and one orange. Next, I added 1/3 cup of orange marmalade and whisked everything together. I then added two tablespoons of dark brown sugar and mixed once more.

I placed my chicken thighs in a glass bowl and sprinkled kosher salt and pepper on both sides. I poured the marinade over the chicken and placed it in the refrigerator for 2-1/2 hours.

I pulled the chicken out of the fridge a half hour before I wanted to place it in the oven. I removed the chicken from the bowl and placed it on a large baking sheet with a rack placed inside. I spooned any marinade that was left in the bowl over the chicken before putting the pan in a preheated oven for 45 minutes.

I decided to serve this with a side of large noodle pasta on the side. I bought a pasta at Home Goods that is like a very, very large shell, resembling a snail shell and called a Pipe Rigate. I made a sauce out of olive oil, butter, many cloves of sliced garlic, and the juice of a lime and an orange (to go with the chicken).

Dennis loved the idea of a sweet and spicy chicken … this chicken was not too spicy (in fact, I thought it could even be spicier) and not too sweet. In Dennis’ mind, he said it was like the perfect barbecued chicken and it got that way without using the grill. You could definitely make this chicken on a grill as well, I just cooked it in the oven because I knew Dennis wouldn’t be home in time to fire up the grill.

Ingredients

• 4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
• zest and juice of one orange
• zest and juice of one lime
• 1/3 cup orange marmalade
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons sriracha
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• kosher salt
• pepper

Directions

1. Sprinkle both sides of chicken liberally with kosher salt and pepper and place in large glass bowl or dish to marinate in.
2. In a measuring cup, whisk together olive oil, citrus zest and juice, garlic, and sriracha. Add marmalade and stir. Add brown sugar and mix again. Pour over chicken, cover and place in refrigerator for 2 hours, up to overnight.
3. Remove chicken from refrigerator 1/2 hour before baking. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place chicken on large baking pan with a rack and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris