1 ea Chicken
3 tb Butter
1/2 tb Mustard, Dijon
1/2 c Juice, orange
1/4 c Sugar, brown
1 tb Cornstarch
1/4 c Water
1/8 c Vodka
Cut chickens in half lengthwise. Blend butter and
mustard together. Rub chicken inside and out with this
mixture. Place chicken, skin side down, in baking
dish with tight-fitting cover.
Preheat oven to 375. Combine orange juice and brown
sugar, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved.
Pour over and around chicken. Cover and bake for 30
minutes.
Turn chicken over, baste with pan juices, and continue
to bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes longer, basting
occasionally.
Remove chicken to heated platter and keep warm. Mix
cornstarch with water. Stir this into juices from
pan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until
thickened. Remove from heat, stir in vodka, and pour
sauce over chicken.
Sylvia's comments: I'm unenthusiastic about this one,
and I'm not sure why. The chicken was pretty bland,
but chicken usually tastes bland to me, and the sauce
was certainly flavorful. The combination of mustard
and orange juice didn't do a thing for my taste buds.
It also took about 1/2 hour longer to bake than the
recipe called for. Next time, I think I'll leave out
the mustard/butter rub, add a little pumpkin pie spice
to the orange juice/brown sugar mixture, and cook the
whole mess in the crockpot rather than the oven.
