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Orange chicken is one of my favorite take out Chinese menu picks, so when I found this slow cooker version it was a "must try". Perfect for Tuesday nights when I rush from my daughter's dance class to try to get dinner on the table, it was easy to put on the rice and cook a vegetable to serve alongside the tasty orange chicken.
The recipe calls for 8 small chicken thighs or 1 lb. My local meat counter had larger, bone-in chicken thighs with the skin still on. It came out to 4 thighs and I took the skin off myself, but at least I only paid $2.30/lb.
I tossed them with 3 tablespoons of flour in the slow cooker.
Now for the sauce. I combined the orange marmalade, barbecue sauce, soy sauce, and ginger in a bowl
and poured it over the chicken.
Now spread it evenly over the chicken. Set the slow cooker to LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 6-8 hours.
This is where things went a little wrong. I've found that my slow cooker tends to cook fast, so I set it on the lowest setting for 10 hours. About 4 hours later, there was a burning smell, so I went to find the source. This is what I found:
Not only was the chicken completely cooked, but the sauce was charred. Hmmm. Not sure what happened here. A friend suggested that my crock pot has a short. Maybe. Or it's possessed and cooked my little Orange Chicken thighs with the fiery flames of Hell.
Obviously, I unplugged this handy little appliance and removed my chicken to a plate, covered it up and put it into the fridge before dance class.
So what we have here is re-heated Orange Chicken with brown rice and an Asian blend vegetable medley. And it was good. Luckily the chicken was spared by the demon in my crock pot.
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
8 small boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 T. flour
1/3 cup orange marmalade
1/3 cup barbecue sauce
2 T. soy sauce
1/2 t. ginger
Toss chicken with flour in slow cooker. Stir in all remaining ingredients; cover with lid. Cook on LOW 6-8 hours or HIGH 3-4 hours.
Makes 4 servings.
