I bought these chicken thighs for $1.39 a pound at Cummings Market in Kennebunk. They were not on sale, wow, that is their regular price.

Tangerine Thyme

Chicken Thighs

Rich, spiced dark meat with tangy tangerine sauce

3 to 4 pounds of chicken thighs, bone in, skin on

butter

olive oil

1 to 2 teaspoons dried thyme (preferably homemade dried thyme; fresh thyme is great too and regular dried thyme is delicious as well)

dried ground cloves

turmeric

3 tangerines

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon milk per pan

2 9-inch glass pans

Butter or oil both of the glass pans. Per each pan: Arrange the chicken thighs, hopefully in one layer but you can add half another layer on top. Make sure to spice chicken thighs underneath, though, unless you want some plain. Place some of the chicken thighs skin down on the bottom layer, so the fat in the skin will help keep the bottom of the pan oiled. Arrange the top chicken thighs with their skin side up.

First, peel and squeeze tangerine slices all over the top of the thighs and in between to add to the sauce. Salt and pepper chicken thighs, then sprinkle them with pinches of turmeric, which is healthy for the brain and also gives them a nice golden color and a slight pleasant flavor. Sprinkle very lightly next with ground dried cloves, because the taste is strong, then heavily sprinkle with dried thyme. Pour milk around the edges, to help make a sauce. Add 1⁄2 teaspoons of butter over the top, at least one 1⁄2 teaspoon per thigh, and drizzle olive oil lightly in between. Do not dislodge any spices. 

Bake at 350 for 30 to 45 minutes or until juices run clear and the thigh meat is done inside. You can cut into one piece to be sure the meat is done.

Serve with salad or a green vegtable and crusty bread, rice or pasta, like fettucini or elbows. You can use drippings of the pan juice on the chicken or over rice or pasta, as a tangy tangerine sauce, unless you want a thicker gravy.

To make gravy: Add 2 tablespoons flour to the pan and only 1/2 cup of juices, still hot in pie pan and stir, to thicken, for two minutes, and add milk or more tangerine juice plus sprinkle in further spices, big pinch of turmeric, tiny light sprinkle of dried cloves, 2 or more pinches of dried or fresh thyme, to your taste, and salt and pepper if desired. Add more flour if you want gravy thicker or add more pan juices to thin it. Taste and adjust spices again. Add extra gravy over the chicken when serving if desired unless you want to show off the delicious spices and delicate browning and certainly add gravy over rice or pasta; or gravy can be served in a gravy boat or bowl on the side; or on each plate, as a base under the spiced thighs or as a carefully separate pool.

— Mel Baker is an experienced chef, caterer and cafe manager. She resides in York County and has published “The Noisy Oven” since 2006. Email her a [email protected].