Greek lemon chicken and potatoes

Chicken with the skin on has been a serious adversary in my oven. Some combination of the size of the oven, my roasting pan, what vegetables I try to roast along with the chicken, and the heat has made it really hard to get good skin with a little crisp and nice browning.  I finally found a recipe that works. This has the right amount of crowding in my roasting pan (not much) and roasting potatoes (and only potatoes) seems to have provided the right conditions to get pretty, tasty chicken.

Thank you, Chef John at Food Wishes (with video)!

Ingredients (3 servings)

• 3 legs and 3 thighs (about 2.25 pounds total)
• 2 large baking potatoes, sliced into eighths (about 2 pounds)
• 1/2 T kosher salt
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 1/2 t dried rosemary
• 2 t dried oregano
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup chicken broth to add to the roasting pan + a splash more to de-glaze

You’ll need

• large mixing bowl
• large roasting pan

Preparation (cooking time 45 minutes to 1 hour)

1. Pre-heat oven to 425.
2. (Peel and) section the potatoes. (Peeled potatoes are prettier but I like potato skins.)
3. Remove the excess skin flap from the thighs and put the chicken in a large bowl.
4. Add the salt, pepper, rosemary, oregano, and minced garlic to the chicken.
5. Add the lemon juice and olive oil.
6. Add the potatoes to the bowl.
7. Toss the chicken and potatoes until the marinade is well-mixed.  You can leave it in the fridge for a few hours or just cook immediately.
8. Lightly oil the roasting pan.
9. Add everything to the roasting pan, chicken skin-side up, and space it all out.
10. Add most of the cup of chicken broth to the pan. (This is to keep things from burning to the roasting pan.)
11. Roast for 20 minutes, and toss.
12. Roast for 25 to 40 minutes more (and check).
13. Take out any chicken that is nicely browned and set in a serving dish.
14. Finish the potatoes (and pale chicken) under the broiler for 3 or 4 minutes. (Keep your nose on the job so you don’t burn it!)
15. De-glaze the pan with a little more broth or water and spoon the liquid over the dish.

Serve with a simple arugula salad or something like that.

Tags: chicken, lemon, potato