Citrus and Spice Chicken

A couple days ago, I was experimenting with different spice mixtures to jazz up my marinate for the whole chicken that I had in the fridge. Pairing them with citrus juices resulting this yummy baked chicken. As usual, when I’m going to bake bone-in chicken, I prefer to steam them first for about 15 minutes to make sure the inside will be at least half cooked before baking it in the oven. Besides it cut down the baking time, plus the meat will stay moist.

Ingredients:
About 2 lbs chicken/beef – I used a whole chicken, cut up in to 4 pieces -skins & visible fat removed
2 lemons (zest & juice)
Fresh squeezed orange juice (1 orange)
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp whole cloves
1 garlic bulb
2-3 shallots
1″ ginger knob
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp coriander powder

Directions:
1. Mash the garlic, shallots, ginger and whole cloves with mortar pestle or your mini food processor (I used my Magic Bullet)
2. Mix the puree garlic/shallot/cloves mixture with the lemon juice, orange juice, lemon zest, and the rest of the spices and salt

3. Place the meat in a gallon size zip lock bag, coat evenly with the marinate. Let it sit for about 2 hour or overnight for best taste.

3. Line up your steamer with a piece of paper towel and steam the meat for about 15 minutes (If you use boneless meat, you can skip this part and head on to the next one). If you want to skip steaming, make sure to bake it longer.

4. Broil the meat in 400°F for about 20 minutes. If you didn’t steam the meat, bake it for 350°F then change the setting to broil. Time depends on the size of the meat that you use.

Remove from heat and enjoy with your favorite veggie dish.

I’d suggest to cut down the broiling time if you don’t want the chicken meat become too dry. I particularly enjoyed it since it tasted like chicken jerky 😀