Green Peppercorn Sauce – Green Peppercorn Chicken

Many decades ago I had a party and had a lot of leftover Orange Juice. I racked my brain what I could do with it and developed this sauce which has been a favorite ever since. It takes a while to make, but once you have it it will keep in the fridge for a long time.

It is good on chicken, fish, pork, steak, frittata, you name it, just not cake. You can scale it up if you have a big group to cook for and do it in advance.

Dana’s Green Peppercorn Sauce

1 Quart Orange juice

1 cup of balsamic vinegar

4 T. Worcestershire Sauce

2 T. Dijon mustard

2T. honey

1/3 Cup of green peppercorns that were in brine, drained

In a big sauce pan put the orange juice, balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Simmer until the liquid has reduced to about 1/3 its original volume. This will take a few hours. Keep a watch on the pan because as it reduces you may have to turn the flame down.

When it is reduced, add the other ingredients and continue to simmer for about half an hour. It should get to be sauce like rather than liquid.

My favorite way to use it is to cook chicken thighs in a fry pan with salt and pepper on them until browned on all side. Place in a baking dish and spoon the sauce over the thighs and bake in 350° oven until they reach 185° internally. How long that is depends on how much you cooked the thighs in the fry pan and how big they are.

The leftovers of the thighs are even better because the sauce permeates the meat.