Lemon Chicken

This is a cross between a Chinese and an Italian Lemon Chicken. You’ll see what I mean when you eat it.. I was just thinking how I could use up the lemons on my tree and I had these chicken thighs so it naturally came together on it’s own basically.

You’ll find that so long as you have the basic techniques of cooking down and you get a sense of what will taste good together that you‘ll know how to write your own recipes. Note as you follow this blog that, as we go along. I am conveying the basic cooking techniques into easy recipes. So long as you’re learning these techniques you’ll see after a while how basically anything in your cupboard can be made into a dish.

　

Lemon Chicken Thighs

8 Boneless, Skinless chicken thighs
1 Large Lemon
1 Large Onion (cut in half and then sliced thinly diagonally)
3 Tbsp Flour
2 tsp Italian Herbs (use either a mix or use a combo of basil, oregano and thyme and marjoram)
1 ½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper
1/8 tsp Cayenne Powder
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 cups Chicken Broth or Stock (see previous recipe for broths and stocks)
1//4 cup Lemon Juice (from the Lemon)
1 tsp Lemon Zest (from the Lemon)

　

Use a large Dutch over or large high sided skillet.

Put the flour and herbs, s n p, and cayenne in the bag and shake to combine. Then add the chicken pieces and shake, shake, shake to cover them completely with the flour mixture.

Put oil in pan and heat on medium high until smoking. Add the chicken pieces, by slowly laying them down with the side of the meat closest to you first and letting it go delicately away from you so that if there‘s any splash it will be away not towards you. Put four in the pan and brown on one side for 5 minutes. Once you put the meat in the pan don’t move them around or flip them over and over. After 5 minutes is up using tongs gently turn them over and brown another 4 minutes. Put on plate and do the second batch. If during the second batch the flour looks like it is burning in some places put some onion slices on those places and move them a little bit back and forth and they will pick up the flour but don’t disturb the meat, it is not burning! Same thing for this batch 5 on one side 4 on the other. Then using the tongs take out the meat leaving the onions in the pan and add the rest of the onions and stirring or moving around with tongs brown them until they are mostly limp (about 2 minutes). If they start to burn then you’re done and you add the broth. Add the lemon juice now too and put the chicken carefully in the pan again the side closet to you first and then letting the other side gently slide into the broth. Whatever juices that are on the plate go into the mix. Nothing wasted!

 

 

 

 

 

Bring the broth to a boil then turn down the heat to a medium simmer. Once you’ve got it to this point the cooking time will be 40 minutes. Set an alarm for 10 minutes and check to make sure it is at a medium-low simmer - not too fast or too slow. Better be too slow then too fast though. You want to end up with the sauce having reduced into a gravy. If you boil it away too fast then you’ll need to add some water or more broth. If you simmer it too low you’ll have to boil it some at the end. In either case the dish will not be affected. But it’s just easier to have it cook at a medium-low heat all the way along and have it done at the end. So check on it every 10 minutes. 5 minutes before the time is up you check for seasoning - does it need more salt or pepper? or do you want to spice it up with some more cayenne? then do that now. And at this point add the lemon zest, also if the fluid is too thin, then this is when you want to turn up the heat to a boil and let it reduce to the consistency you like. But if you’re going to do that then stand at the stove moving the meat about every 20 seconds or so to make sure it doesn’t stick to the pan and to check the consistency of the gravy until it’s just as you like it. Could take anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes depending on just how loose the gravy was. In either case, this will not adversely affect the dish - I promise - so long as you keep checking to see that the meat doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Don’t stir. Be gentle with the meat because it is real tender right now, just move it around a bit. If the sauce is looking just fine then let it finish up the last 5 minutes.

And Voila your dish is complete. I’ve served it with plain couscous here (then later I will mix the couscous into the meat and refrigerate it for leftovers the next day or two or three). It keeps real well. This is a dish that will freeze well too - put them, either the whole of it in a gallon baggie or servings in small baggies or in plastic containers. Be sure to tag or mark them as you’ll never know what that is otherwise by just looking a it!!

Enjoy!