Orange-Honey Glazed Chicken Thighs

This is one of those weekday warrior meals that seems great in concept, but is actually not that simple to pull off really well.  Sure, you can improvise and wing it and produce a decent product, but in order to create something truly memorable, you should be more thoughtful and measured in how you approach this.  I attempted this a few times here and there, usually improvising or just finding a recipe online, and I always produced something decent, but nothing amazing.  I finally tried the CI recipe, and with a few tweaks of my own, created a restaurant worthy, lick the plate clean orange glazed chicken.  This thing is no joke.  You will want to drink the glaze with a straw.


ingredients:
for 2 chicken thighs
1.  2 chicken thighs
2.  1 clove of garlic
3.  1/4 tsp of dried parsley, oregano, or thyme
3.  1/4 cup + 2 TBL (+3 tsp for the marinade and finishing sauce) orange juice
4.  3/4 tsp dijon mustard
5.  3/4 tsp white vinegar
6.  pinch of red pepper flakes
7.  1 TBL corn syrup
8.  1 TBL honey
9.  1 TBL minced shallot or onion
10.  table salt and fresh cracked pepper
11.  1 tsp of vegetable oil
12.  1/4 cup ap flour


recipe:
1.  Lightly sprinkle chicken thighs with 1/4 tsp of table salt and set in large bowl.  Mince 1 clove of garlic, sprinkle 1/4 tsp table salt on top, and grind until a paste forms.
2.  Transfer garlic paste to a small bowl and add 1/4 tsp dried parsley, 2 tsp of orange juice, and 1/8 tsp of cracked black pepper.  Mix, pour over chicken thighs, then thoroughly mix until thighs are well coated.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours.
3.  5 min before the chicken finishes marinating, prepare a baking tray and line it with foil.  Place it onto the middle rack of the oven and heat to 375 degrees farenheit.  Heat 1 tsp oil in a skillet over medium heat.
4.  Into a medium sized bowl combine 1/4 cup + 2 TBL of orange juice, 3/4 tsp dijon mustard, 3/4 tsp white vinegar, and a pinch of red pepper flakes and mix.  Leave out the corn syrup and honey as you will be adding that directly into the pan later to avoid it clumping and sticking to the bowl with the orange juice.
note: - measure this as well as the corn syrup and honey with measuring spoons.  this sauce is perfectly balanced and eye balling it can throw off the flavor.
5.  Place 1/4 cup of ap flour onto a medium plate.  After the chicken has finished marinating, dredge both sides of the chicken in the ap flour, shake off any excess, then place into the heated skillet skin side down over medium heat.
6.  Cook until well browned 4-8 minutes.  Flip over and cook the bottom until also well browned, another 4-8 minutes.
7.  Transfer chicken to a cutting board to rest.  Pour off all but 1/2 tsp of fat from the pan.  To the pan add 1 TBL of minced shallot or onion.  Cook for 2 minutes until softened.  Add orange juice mixture, and a measured 1 TBL of corn syrup and 1 TBL of honey to the pan.  Mix until sauce is well combined.  Reduce for a few minutes until sauce becomes syrupy, then turn off heat.
8.  Place chicken thighs back into pan skin side down.  Tilt the pan so that the sauce pools to one side, then use a spoon to spoon sauce all over the bottom of the chicken thighs.  Flip over the chicken thighs and repeat to thoroughly coat the skin side with the sauce.
9.  Place chicken thighs into the oven onto the foil lined baking tray.  Bake for 10-20 minutes, until the thickest part of the thigh registers 175 degrees.  Immediately take out and let rest on clean cutting board.  Take out the baking tray and leave outside.  Adjust the oven rack to highest position, and put oven on HIGH broil.  Let heat up for a few minutes.
10.  Meanwhile, heat the sauce back over medium low heat until it becomes a thick glaze.  Add 1 tsp of orange juice to the glaze, mix, then turn off heat.
11.  Place chicken thighs, skin side up, back onto the foil lined baking sheet, then onto the highest rack in the oven.  Broil on high for 1-4 minutes, just until the skin becomes crisp and deep brown.  BE CAREFUL.  DON'T TAKE YOUR EYE OFF OF IT AS IT WILL BURN IN SECONDS.
12.  Take out thighs and place back into pan, skin side up.  Swirl the chicken around so the bottom gets coated with the glaze then plate the chicken without coating the top.
13.  Just before you serve, pour 2-4 TBL of glaze over top of chicken skin.  Eat immediately.
note: - this goes great with a side of rice.  Pour excess orange glaze into rice and mix.