Lemon Chicken with Oven-Baked Polenta
Photo by: Claudia Alexander
Continuing on my citrus theme for this month, there are a lot of lemon trees out there covered in lemons and oranges. A huge grapefruit tree across the street has more grapefruit than I have ever seen on it. The farmers markets are full of citrus too, blood oranges, cara cara oranges, seville oranges, mandarins, tangerines, pomelo fruit (which is related to grapefruit), ruby grapefruit, key limes, and Bearss limes, just to name a few. Meyer lemon marmalade, lime curd pie, bulgar wheat with fennel and blood oranges, and candied orange slices now cover my kitchen counters. In the hope that you’ll be as citrus-inspired as me, I’m sharing my girlfriend June’s recipe for Lemon Chicken here. I have made this for years and it is a family favorite. The creamy polenta is an added bonus because it can cook alongside the chicken in the oven. Just make a green salad or some roasted vegetables and you are set.
Serves 4
Preheat oven to 350°
Lemon Chicken:
1 whole chicken cut-up into 8/10 pieces; save the backbone and wing tips for stock
2 lemons (Meyer if you have them) halved. Juice three halves and you should have about 1/4 cup. Set aside the 4th half.
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 dry white wine
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon, cumin, and paprika
1/4 chopped parsley
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil for roasting pan
Toss chicken with garlic salt and pepper and place skin side up in lightly oiled roasting pan, single layer. Combine remaining ingredients in a jug and pour around the chicken. Slice remaining lemon half and tuck around the chicken pieces. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes and then turn pieces and baste. Repeat two more times so that the total cooking time is about an hour. This chicken is delicious served over a bed of polenta (recipe below). If you would rather make wedge roasted potatoes they work equally well.
Photo by Claudia Alexander
Oven-Baked Polenta
3/4 cups polenta
4 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock, or water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano
Note: The picture above also shows a bowl of roasted mushroom and leeks: a left over filling from a mushroom galette, which is also a great topping for polenta.
In a medium-sized baking dish combine polenta with salt and 4 cups of chicken stock, vegetable stock or water. Cook for 30 minutes in a 350° oven. Take out of the oven and stir. Then add 1/2 cup of milk, 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter and 1/2 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Give the polenta another stir to combine and put back into the oven for another 30 minutes. Top with lemon chicken or roasted vegetables (see note above).
Photo by: Claudia Alexander