Coming Home to Chicken Thighs

Last night I returned from my trip to Florida, happy but tired. My wonderful husband, Charlie, was on top of things and picked up groceries before I arrived so he could make me dinner. He's the absolute best.
And make dinner he did. Not just any dinner either but my favorite thing that he cooks. While we were dating he decided to come up with a recipe to call his own. The result of those efforts is a fabulous dish called Chicken Thighs with Orange Juice and Cilantro.  I just love it.  Here's the recipe:

Chicken Thighs with Orange Juice and Cilantro

ingredients:

2 cups orange juice

2 cups white wine

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup loosely packed cilantro, roughly chopped

1 pound bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

salt and pepper

2 Tablespoons olive oil

In a large bowl combine the orange juice, white wine, garlic, and cilantro.  Add the chicken thighs and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Remove the chicken thighs from the marinade and season with salt and pepper.  Heat the oil in a sauce pan on medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and sear, approximately 4 minutes on each side or until the skin is nicely browned.

Add the orange juice mixture and bring to a simmer.  Simmer for 6 - 8 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  

Serve the chicken over basmati rice with a large spoonful of the sauce.

You may notice the absence of fresh cilantro in the photos.  Charlie forgot to pick it up at the grocery store (he blames the chaos of rush hour) so he substituted a Tablespoon or so of ground coriander.   Coriander is the dried, ground seed of the cilantro plant.  It doesn't have the minty flavor of fresh cilantro leaves and is much milder.  Coriander is not generally interchangeable with cilantro, but in the case of this marinade it worked beautifully.  I prefer fresh cilantro, but the dish was still delicious with the substitution.