Lemon and Garlic Chicken Thighs

Last night I refused to eat leftover Chinese food for dinner. I am not a fan of it anyway, so imagine having to eat it again two days later from the fridge. Gross. I also refused to do any new food shopping considering I have so many meats in my freezer and plenty of spices and veggies to use. So, I looked up Food Network's website and entered my main ingredient, chicken thighs. 


They have been frozen forever so I put them in the sink to defrost a few hours before I planned on starting. Growing up, my mother would trickle warm/cool water over the packaging from the faucet so I thought I would do the same since things like that always remind me of her. (she would love to know I just wrote that)


Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 8 chicken thighs with bones and skin, about 3 1/2 pounds
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 cups thinly sliced onions
• 30 cloves (about 2 heads) garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 pound angel hair pasta
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves, plus more for garnish
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the chicken thighs with 1 1/4 teaspoons of the salt and 1 teaspoon of the freshly ground pepper.

Place the flour in a shallow dish. Lightly dredge the chicken in the flour and set aside.

I made sure to dredge with as much flour as I can get stuck on there for the extra crisp!

In a large wide saute pan with 2 to 3-inch sides, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the thighs and brown well on both sides, about 6 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

I did the chicken in batches. Keeping the stovetop at a med/high heat really helped with the browning and I didn't have to rush so I wouldn't worry about burning them

Add the onions to the oil and cook, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from the chicken until wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, crushed red pepper, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the bay leaf and cook 1 minute.

Smashing the garlic was the most fun! I put the wide part of a knife blade flat over each clove and slammed it with the palm of my hand. Stress relief!

 Add the lemon juice, chicken broth, and browned chicken thighs to the pan. Bring the mixture to a simmer, cover tightly, and place in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, remove the lid and cook an additional 15 minutes, or until cooked through and tender.

Leaving the chicken skin exposed while in the oven allowed it to stay crisp while the rest of it absorbed the sauce

While the chicken is baking, cook the pasta until al dente, 4 to 5 minutes for dry pasta. Drain well and toss in a large bowl with 3 tablespoons of the parsley and the butter.

To serve, place a portion of pasta in the center of 4 large plates. Arrange 2 thighs around each serving of pasta and drizzle lemon garlic cooking liquid over the pasta. Garnish with additional parsley and serve immediately.

Can't see it too well in this photo but I also scooped some of the onion from the pan over the chicken which made a huge difference in the taste

I paired this meal with an Albarino wine from Spain. I try my best to pair with interesting wines instead of your  common ones such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. This was great! This brought out the lemon flavor as well as the black pepper in the dish which made it very interesting.



Emeril Lagasse: Lemon-Garlic Chicken Thighs