Lemon-Rosemary Chicken
By Narayan • 12:09 on Tuesday, March 12, 2002 • Comment
I made this for the first time in March, and I love that it’s an incredibly simple chicken dish that requires no marinating and very little preparation. You can substitute fresh parsley or cilantro for the rosemary, I imagine, and have a completely different dish. I’ll experiment with this in the coming months and post my results here. I really love this dish—simple, quick, and tasty.
- 2 lbs chicken, cut up (thighs and breasts are good for this dish)
- one lemon
- a sizeable portion of fresh rosemary
- a slightly less sizeable portion of fresh thyme
- some kind of stock—vegetable or chicken, preferably. boullion is fine. 1-2 cups or a small can’s worth is all you need.
- 20 or so white button mushrooms (or better mushrooms, if you have them)
- kosher salt
- 2 tbs butter
- 2 tbs olive oil
- Melt the butter in a heavy stock pot and add the oil
- Salt and pepper the chicken, then brown on all sides (takes approx 15 minutes)
- While the chicken is browning, peel off the skin of the lemon using a vegetable peeler, then cut the skin into small strips or squares. I’d use half the skin at least, more if you want a stronger lemon flavor. You’ll use the lemon for juice later, so don’t throw it out.
- Prepare the rosemary and thyme by removing the leaves from the stems and chopping them coarsely.
- Take the chicken out and add a little bit of stock to help scrape the browned bits off the bottom. Do this carefully—the oil can splatter when you add the stock.
- Add the mushrooms and the remainder of stock. Stir for a minute then reduce the liquid by half
- After the liquid is reduced, add the chicken back to the pot and squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken, add the rosemary, thyme, and lemon zest. I’d consider adding a few small red potatoes and a tomato here too, but nothing green.
- Cover the pot and cook until chicken is tender and sauce has thickened (about 25-30 minutes). Serve with rice.