I have made dozens of lemon chicken recipes, but this specific recipe and the use of the cast iron skillet is definitely my all time favorite! I had been wanting a cast iron skillet for about two years now, but despite all of my talking, I never actually got around to buying a pan. One day, Tony went to Farm and Fleet (yes, I said it - Farm and Fleet) and came home with bird seed and a cast iron pan. The pan is awesome and I can’t believe I have lived without it for this long!
Here is the recipe:
- 1 whole chicken, quartered (bone-in and skin on is going to give you the best flavor, especially with this pan)
- Zest of 1 lemon plus juice of 3 lemons
- 1 Tbsp dijon or whole grain mustard (trust me, you won’t taste the mustard for all of you haters out there!)
- 7-8 “dashes” of Worcestershire sauce
- 6-7 cloves of garlic, chopped
- Fresh rosemary (3-4 sprigs for marinade; additional 2 sprigs used during cook time)
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup chicken stock
- Pepper
- Salt
Mix the lemon zest, lemon juice (2 lemons), mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, rosemary, pepper and olive oil in a mason jar and shake until all ingredients are well combined.
Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and then place in a Ziplock bag. Add the marinade. Massage the marinade into the chicken (with the bag closed). Placed the bag on a plate and keep in the refrigerator overnight.
Heat a cast iron skillet until it is smoking hot! Add enough canola oil to coat the bottom of the pan and then add the chicken (discard excess marinade) to the pan, skin side down. Let the chicken cook at least 5 minutes.
Flip the chicken (skin side up) and let cook an additional 5 minutes. Flip the chicken again (skin side down) and add about 3 tbsp of butter and additional rosemary springs. Place the pan in a 400 degree oven and cook for about 20 additional minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into a thigh/leg registers 165 degrees. Remove the pan from the oven, place the chicken on a plate and cover with aluminum foil. Place the pan on a medium high burner.
Add an additional 1 tbsp of butter to the pan and 1 tbsp flour. Whisk the butter and flour together until completely combined. Add 1/3 cup chicken stock and the juice of 1 additional lemon. Continue to whisk until the sauce starts to come together. Add additional salt/pepper to taste.
Pour pan sauce over the chicken and serve. I typically serve this with Tony’s Favorite Roasted “Guinea” Potatoes or risotto (recipes will follow later).
This same recipe can be used for any type of chicken. You may need to reduce the browning time in the cast iron pan and the overall cook time. You can also do this without the cast iron pan or even on the grill. There is not an exact science to this. Use what you have available to you and just adjust your cooking method until you get the right color on the chicken and the right temperature.
Enjoy!