Lemon Chicken

March isn’t exactly going out like a lamb in these parts but nonetheless Mark & I have been firing up the grill, all bundled up, hoping to conjure the warm breeze of spring and the promise of summer behind it. What’s a few more nights below freezing?

This is one of my favorites of my mother’s recipes. My mom tells me its actually my grandmother’s recipe. And it can be traced even farther back to relatives to me only by marriage who live somewhere in Connecticut. Well, I added wine, so perhaps I can join the legacy too.

Whatever the recipe’s provenance, it really can only be successul on an outdoor grill. The oregano coating smokes alot as it sears, and if you make it indoors, you’ll fill your house with the aroma of lemon chicken for weeks. Maybe that’s your thing. For me, its one of the million reasons I am thankful to finally have a backyard and a bbq. The recipe is inexpensive, super simple and absolutely delicious as leftovers the next day straight out of the fridge.

Lemon Chicken
1 stick unsalted butter
1 lemon
1/3 cup kosher salt
2/3 cup dried oregano
1 chicken, cut up into 8 or 10 bone-in serving pieces (generally 2 wings, 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs and 2 or 4 breast pieces, depending on the size you may want to cut each breast half in half again)
1 cup dry white wine

1. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan. Add the juice of the lemon and turn off the heat.

2. In a large bowl, or gallon-sized zip top bag, combine the salt and oregano. Completely coat each piece of chicken in the mixture so that you barely see any chicken through the coating.

3. Grill chicken over medium-high heat. As you turn it, baste with the butter-lemon mixture. Cook until you have good color all the way around. This takes about 15 minutes. It smells amazing and you’ll understand why you’re outside when you see the herb-scented smoke plumes floating over to your neighbor’s place.

4. Transfer the chicken to a pot large enough to comfortably hold it all, add the cup of white wine and any remaining butter-lemon mix and tightly cover.

You can proceed from here either on a gas grill or inside on the stove top.

5. Cook the chicken over medium-low for about 90 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and falling off the bones.

We served ours with Macaroni & Cheese and grilled asparagus spears.

Don’t Forget the Lemon

I have a collection of recipes that I have clipped from the pages of the New York Times for years. The other night, I was looking for something to do with organic chicken parts that I had bought at the farmer’s market and remembered that I had a recipe for chicken cooked with green olives. I LOVE green olives and had chicken and so I flipped through my book at found the recipe.

I made it and it was okay. The Gourmand liked it, but I thought that the chicken skin was slimy and the olives were overpoweringly briny. And I like briny! So, you can imagine…

The Gourmand asked, “Did you put in the lemon?” and I realized, that I had neglected that last step. I didn’t think it could be that important. I decided that I needed to revamp the recipe and that the venerable NY Times had failed me. The Gourmand had other ideas. He got up and sliced a lemon. (By the way, there is a global shortage of lemons. They are going for $0.79 a piece!) 

Squirting the lemon on my meal completely transformed the experience. The briny-ness was transformed into something…almost…creamy. I had made lebanese cous-cous as a side and suddenly this combination…made sense. So, I give you this lesson: don’t forget the lemon. 

Chicken with Green Olives (Adapted from the NY Times)
Serves 4

2 T olive oil
3-4 lbs cut up whole, bone-in organic chicken pieces, cut into serving size, extra fat removed
salt and pepper
1 large onion, chopped
2 tsp fresh ginger, diced fine
1 cinnamon stick
1 T minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
2 cups organic chicken stock
1 1/2 cup green olives, drained, pitted, and chopped
Lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

In a large pot (big enough to hold all the chicken pieces for braising) heat the oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the chicken pieces in a single layer and brown both sides, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go. This will take several batches, and when you put the chicken in, don’t move it. Let it sear.

Remove the chicken pieces to a plate and turn heat down to medium. Add the onion, ginger, cinnamon, garlic, cumin, & paprika, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens. Add the stock, raise heat and add the chicken pieces back in. Cover and simmer until the meat pulls away easily from the bone, about 30 minutes. Add the olives and bring back to a simmer.

To serve, I made cous-cous. You could use rice, egg noodles, quinoa, etc. Put the chick on the plate and squirt generously with lemon juice. Sprinkle with cilantro.

*I found this was even better the next day, when I took the chicken off the bones, shredded it, and put it back in the sauce. I served that over egg noodles and it was amazing.

Ray’s Spring Chicken

We went to our favorite farm stand at the Grand Army Plaza Farmers’ Market this past Saturday: Bradley Farms, home of Ray Bradley, and bought some chicken.  We love the vegetables from Rays farm but his meats, when available, are even better. We purchased two packages with two legs each.  The first pack was made into Julie’s favorite dinner earlier this week.  Tonight the other two legs will be marinated and then roasted on a bed of fingerling potatoes, also from Ray.

The Recipe:
3 stems of rosemary leaves
4 shallots
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp. Herbs de Provence (from Sahadi’s)
¼ tsp. hot pimenton
a hefty shot of olive oil
2 tsp. of rice vinegar
Salt and pepper 

2 lbs potatoes (we used fingerlings)
Chicken pieces, bone-in, for two (we used legs with thighs attached)

Place the first eight ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it forms a chunky paste.

Rinse and pat the chicken dry. In a bowl, rub the marinade into the chicken pieces, on all sides and let stand for an hour. 

Wash and cut the potatoes into chunks and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place into a roasting pan. Place the chicken on top of the potatoes. 

Put the pan in the oven at 350 for approximately 40 minutes (depending on cut) until the chicken is done.  If the chicken is done before the potatoes just pull the chicken out and cover it until the potatoes are finished. 

Serve with a salad or vegetable of your choice.

Julie’s Favorite Dinner

Way back when, I lived with a wonderful, fabulous, awesome roommate, who through no fault of her own, was from Ohio. Now, don’t get me wrong, Ohio readers, I am big fans of some of the people your state has produced. But, culinarily, it will take some time. Like Ireland.

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, my roommate and I were hungry, starving some nights and so cooking with flavor and in bulk provided leftovers and I revisited this recipe last night. YUM:

Julie’s Favorite Dinner
Enough chicken to yield about 2 cups of shredded cooked meat, any cut or part will do
olive oil
4 T curry powder – the good stuff
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
4 cups cooked wild rice
1 red onion, chopped fine
1 cup diced mango
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
coarse sea salt
ground pepper

Heat the oven to 350. Rinse the chicken parts in cold water and dry them well with paper towels. Place them on a foil-lined cookie sheet and drench all sides in olive oil. In a small bowl, mix together curry powder, coriander and cumin. Rub into all parts of the chicken. Bake 25 – 35 minutes until cooked through. Remove from oven and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, shred the meat, discarding the skin and bones and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the rice in a rice cooker or on the stovetop. In a large bowl mix together cooked rice, onion, mango, beans, cilantro, and cooked chicken. Add olive oil to coat so the rice doesn’t stick together. Add rice vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.

Pics to come. Hooray for low cost, high yield food to impress even the most discerning of Ohio-born palates. And this recipe is great for pot lucks and picnics.