Re-inspired

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love to cook. But law school has a way of destroying your soul, and I've been stuck in a flavor-rut. Everything started tasting the same ... a garlic-ey spicy EVOO drenched mess. Well my palette needed a pick me up, and this past weekend pulled me out of that rut.

On Sunday, I went to the DC Fancy Food Show. I won't go too far into the details... but at around hour 4 I abandoned any sense of civility and started sampling spoonfuls of different truffle butters. I'm not really sure what happened next, but I must have blacked out from sheer joy. I woke up back at home... shirtless and with an order form for 50 lbs. of hummus signed in my handwriting under the name Gateano De Luca.

Ok so really, the show was three days and at the end, all the exhibitors give tons of stuff away. So I went back today and raided the show. The meal that resulted from my findings was nothing but sheer inspiration.. recipe below.

Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs on Wilted Spinach w/ Blood Orange Marmalade Glaze: 

1 package of chicken thighs (trimmed of fat and cleaned)
1 bag of spinach (washed)
1/2  yellow onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 lemon
2 tbsp of blood orange marmalade
Bragg's aminos
Rice wine vinegar
Sriracha

Rub:
wasabi powder
garlic powder
chili powder
salt
black pepper
cayenne
cumin
chicken consomme powder

Prep/Cook Time: 25 minutes  


Directions: 

All the ingredients used can be found at Wholefoods or Safeway, so don't go running somewhere crazy to find any of these ingredients.

Start by making your rub for the chicken. Just add the above spices together to taste. Note that the chicken consomme powder is naturally a little salty, so go light on the salt. Make the rub, and season both sides of your chicken thighs. You can do this ahead of time and let the flavors soak into the chicken if you want.

Next is the glaze. Take your blood orange marmalade, Sriracha, rice wine vinegar, and Bragg's aminos and combine in another bowl. I don't know exact proportions, but just work to taste. Go light on the Sriracha. Bragg's is a soy sauce substitute, so don't go too heavy on it since it's salty.

You'll want to blanch your spinach next. Prep a bowl with some ice water and in another pot bring some water to a boil. Once your water is boiling drop the spinach in for 30 seconds - 1 minute at most. Take the spinach out of the water and immediately drop it into the ice water. Tada... you've just blanched something.

On medium heat, drizzle some olive oil and let it smoke lightly. Throw your chicken on and let it brown on either side to develop a nice crust from the rub. You can turn the pan down slightly once you've got a crust and cook the chicken through. Don't keep the pan too hot or else your chicken will dry out and become tough.

Once you've cooked your chicken remove it from the pan. Chop your onion and garlic and add it to the pan until translucent. Take your blanched spinach and squeeze as much water out of it as you can. Throw it in with the onions and garlic. You can turn the heat back up a little bit over medium now. I threw in a little bit of butter but that's up to you. Let your mixture cook down and then squeeze 1/2 lemon on top. Add black pepper and salt to taste. Remove.

Reduce the heat on the pan down below medium. Throw in the glaze. Watch it carefully and stir frequently to prevent it from burning. Just let it reduce down by half and remove it from the heat.

Throw your spinach on the plate, chicken on top of that, and glaze drizzled on top. Enjoy.