Greek Chicken

 13 December 2021

Recipe from Cook's Country, February 2019

I learned about this recipe from an episode of the Cook's Country TV show. It looked good with a lot of fresh herbs and lemon. But would it live up to the TV show accolades? And how would it be when  reheated as a leftover, an important factor when cooking for just two people.

A 4½-pound chicken was broken down into 2 split breasts, 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, and 2 wings. Slashes were made in all but the wings so the marinade would get past the surface of the bird. A no-cook marinade was made by mixing olive oil, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, garlic, lemon zest, salt, oregano, coriander, pepper flakes (as usual, I halved the recipe amount), and pepper. This was mixed in a bowl with the chicken pieces and set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. The chicken pieces were then placed, skin side up, in a skillet and the marinade remaining in the bowl was poured over the chicken. The chicken was roasted in a 425° oven until the breasts reached 160° and the thighs and drumsticks 175°. (One breast was underdone so it was set aside to finish cooking when reheated as a leftover.) The skillet was removed from the oven, the pan juices were spooned over the chicken, which was then returned to the oven but now with the broiler on. After a few minutes the skin was browned and the chicken removed. Total time with 30 minutes marinating was just over 2 hours.

We both enjoyed this chicken. The dominant flavor for us was lemon which was good with chicken. There was nothing difficult about the preparation and it provided us with many meals. I used a hot water batch, sous vide, to reheat so as not to overcook the chicken and dry it out. As a leftover, however, it was nothing special, just roast chicken. The flavors you would expect from all of the herbs and spices just didn't come through in the leftovers.