Recipes

[shoekitty]

After wayching a LHOTP marathon which included the Cinnamon Chicken episode, I was on a mission. If you remember Laura is in Love with the new man in town, Almonzo Wilder.  Mrs Oleson opens a restaurant for Nellie.   In a grab for Almonzo, Nellie invites Almonzo to eat dinner, but can NOT cook.  Almonzo's favorite dish is cinnamon chicken, which Laura offers to cook in proxy for Nellie.  Jealous, Laura substitutes cayenne for cinnamon and pepper, and adds extra.  Both almonzo and nellie were on fire with the hot dish. Of course Nellie is in vevenge mode,  ANYWAY, I digress... on a mission I searched for a recipe.  I found this recipe called Little House On The Prairie Cinnamon Chicken,  (duh) lol.  Looked good.  It's marinating now

has anyone ever tasted, or cooked Cinnamon Chicken??

Recipe I found

1 1/2 cup apple cider

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black ground pepper

3 lbs chicken

olive oil

make marinate, place in baggie with chicken.  I used chicken breasts and thighs, bone in, and skin on but trimmed way down.  (Recipe calls for chicken breasts, bone in, skin on).  Marinate 8 hours ,or overnight is best.

350 oven, preheated

remove marinated chicken from bag shake off marinate in bag, set aside.  Pour marinate into small pan and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to medium heat and cook until reduced to about 1 cup. Takes approx. 10-15 mins, then take off heat. 

heat 2T oil in a skillet, when pan is hot, briefly brown chicken about 1-2 mins each side.  Enough to brown nicely on each side ..but not cook through .

place browned chicken, skin up in 9X13 pan.  Pour reduced marinate over each piece of chicken.  Turn to coat each piece drizzle again. Get reduced marinate on chicken, not on bottom of pan so much.  I think I will place chicken in bowl, pour cooked 3/4 of marinate in and squish around til coated.  Then place in pan and spoon rest of sauce on each piece. No big deal, but when I make chicken with glazes I hate for them to get all over bottom of pan, it just burns on to my pans!

cook 350 until done, about 30-50 minutes.

[blackhole99]

It basically sounds like barbecue chicken.

[shoekitty]

@blackhole99 

Kinda does, without the tomato sauce or catsup.  However the marinate tasted lemony, cinnamon to me.  Well, we will see tomorrow when I cook it

[KingstonsMom]

@shoekitty 

Please let us know how it turns out!

[Harpa]

@shoekitty 

Thanks for the recipe! Also, the story! Which reminds me of the day when I made French toast for my daughter's little brood - and did reach for the cayenne instead of the cinnamon! Both being packaged alike.

So unusual when they didn't ask for seconds!

I will often sprinkle apple pie spice, (which contains cinnamon) in a chicken dish.

[ciao_bella]

@shoekitty  I'm also interested in knowing how it tastes.   Did you ever watch the videos  on YouTube of John Townsend who re-enacts  many Colonial recipes of the period?  It's so interesting to watch.   Just Google...John Townsend YouTube Cooking  and you'll find some very interesting recipes.

[blackhole99]

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@shoekitty wrote:

@blackhole99 

Kinda does, without the tomato sauce or catsup.  However the marinate tasted lemony, cinnamon to me.  Well, we will see tomorrow when I cook it

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Where I come from their idea of barbecue chicken is butter, vinegar and spices, no tomato anything involved. 

[shoekitty]

@ciao_bella @Harpa @KingstonsMom 

I made it today and it really was good.  I did marinate it overnight, and started cooking about 3 pm today, .so it was marinated in a ziplock for at least 18 hours.  I put chicken in colander and let it drain into bowl and then poured marinate into  2 qt pot and placed on stove, brought to boil...then turned to medium and let cook for 15 mins. Stirring often.   I did  remove a bit of sauce and add 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch and then put back in saucepan and mixed in while cooking sauce. It needed to be thicker.  

i turned oven to convection 350 (325).  My chicken and sauce didnt smell much of cinnamon.  Idk if my cinnamon was old or not enough. So,   I took 1/2 teaspoon salt a shy teaspoon of saigon cinnamon,  and few dash pepper ,mixed , and sprinkled it and rubbed onto chicken pieces.  I put 2 tablespoons oil in 12" inch skillet, heated hot and browned a few minutes on each side.  It was a rich brown color. I Then placed on roomy baking sheet. ( I had a trader joes cut chicken, i think it had 2 breasts, 4 legs, 2 thighs I added a package of 4 thighs.  I trimmed  the skin a lot.)
i drizzled  half of glaze on chicken pieces.  Baked 30 mins, more glaze. Baked another 10 mins.  Mine was done.  I then poured remainder of glaze on chicken. Let sit for 10 mins.

the chicken has the most gorgeous sienna color, not crisp skin but looks browned.  The sauce is not too sticky.  The flavor is amazing.  It is not strong.  But it is juicy, tender and has a slight aroma of cinnamon. When you chew the chicken you taste an end note of mild connamon.  I tasted the lemon in there.  We have lemon tree and they were very potent this year.  It was not spicy from pepper, but a nice savory taste with a slightly sweet end note

my husband loved it.  He said the chicken was so good and tender, and the flavor was "unusual" in a good way. I will make it again soon.  But i am buying new cinnamon, and see if that helps for a stronger cinnamon note.  I am glad I did the dry rub thing, as It gave the chicken extra zing.

[shoekitty]

[shoekitty]

This is like the second photo I ever posted.  It is not the best, but chicken looks good to me.  Lol. The photo is of breast portion