ASIAN GLAZED CHICKEN THIGHS

After being sick this week, something with a lot of flavor was in order.  It has been quite awhile since I have satisfied my Asian food addiction and with some boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the freezer, fresh asparagus in the fridge and some Near East Sesame Ginger rice in the pantry, tonight was a good time to indulge that.   It would be a quick and tasty dinner.

I did a quick search on Google for "glazed chicken thighs blog" to try to find a recipe to use for the chicken.  I like to add "blog" to my search because I am convinced that there is no better place to get a new recipe than from the wonderful bloggers out there.  The recipes that bloggers post are the best of the best.  My search brought me to RUNNING MAMA COOKS and her version of Asian Glazed Chicken Thighs.  You can get her recipe here.

Running Mama's recipe made enough for 8 chicken thighs.  I only had three so I halved her recipe.  

I started with Balsamic Vinegar...

Since this was going in a glaze with some other strong flavors, I didn't use the good stuff.  This Colavita would do just fine.  I measured out 1/4 cup...

To the Balsamic Vinegar, I added 1/4 cup Soy Sauce...

Next I added 1 tablespoon of the most wonderful hot sauce in the world....

The recipe called for Agave Nectar or Sugar.  I went with the Sugar.  Next time, I might try Brown Sugar or Sugar in the Raw...

I grabbed some ginger out of the freezer and grated it with my microplane.

I only needed 1/2 teaspoon of the ginger for the glaze. Since I got a little happy with the grating, I added the rest of the ginger with the rice while it was cooking.

David got in on the fun and helped me with dinner by chopping the fresh garlic. We needed about a clove and a half...

Once the glaze ingredients were put together, I set it aside and started the chicken.  I peppered it really good with freshly ground black pepper and browned it in a nonstick skillet in just a little bit of Olive Oil...

Once the chicken had been browned on both sides, I added the sauce....

And 1/2 cup of water...

I turned the chicken to coat with the sauce  and brought the temp up to boiling.  Once it began boiling, I turned the temp down to simmer, covered and cooked for  about 20 minutes. 

While the chicken was cooking, David put the rice on to cook, adding the remainder of the freshly grated ginger.  I like making my own rice from scratch; but, I had this in the pantry and it was great to use for a quick meal.  I haven't found a Near East mix that I don't like.  I usually use the whole grain ones or the Couscous.  This one might not have been quite as healthy but it sure tasted good!

David, also, got the asparagus prepared to cook...

Since both of our burners on the cooktop were being used for other parts of the meal, we decided to try the rice cooker/veggie steamer for the asparagus.  It worked great for cauliflower recently but that's the only veggie we have tried in it until tonight.  The asparagus turned out okay but it would have been better if we had prepared it a different way.

After the chicken had cooked for 20 minutes, I removed the cover, turned the heat to high and brought the sauce to a boil again...

And boiled it for about 8 minutes to reduce the sauce and thicken up the glaze.  I turned the chicken periodically to coat as the sauce was reducing...

While the sauce was reducing, I toasted a few sesame seeds in a dry skillet...

Thanks, Kelly!  The chicken was fabulous!  We will definitely be having this again soon!

For more great recipes, you should hop over and visit Kelly at Running Mama Cooks.  I've found several recipes that I want to try.

Thank you so much for stopping by to see me.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

This post is linked up to Friday Potluck, Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Fresh Clean and Pure Friday, Follow Friday-40 and Over,  Boost My Blog Friday,  Foodie Friday and Fun With Food Friday.