As easy as boneless, skinless chicken breasts are to cook, chicken roasted on the bone has a lot more natural flavor. Here, bone-in chicken breasts are rubbed with a sauce of garlic, lemon and olive oil, then quickly roasted in a hot oven. If you like, you can crisp the skin under the broiler before serving. I use my convection oven, so the chicken only takes about 30 minutes to cook. I also roasted halved cherry tomatoes (drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper) in a small gratin dish, then tossed them with some pasta and cheese for a simple side dish.
The chicken was inspired by a Bon Appetit recipe that used fresh herbs. I didn’t have fresh herbs, but I (almost) always have lemon and garlic. Easy substitution. This would also be delicious with orange/rosemary or lemon/thyme. See what you already have in the kitchen, then choose flavors that compliment one another.
Adding liquid to the pan helps to keep the chicken moist during roasting. I really like to add a splash of white wine, but we were out (or maybe I needed it in my glass more than the chicken needed it ), so I used chicken broth instead. The recipe only calls for half a cup of liquid, so I added heaping teaspoon of Better than Bouillon to hot water to make the broth. If you haven’t tried Better than Bouillon, it is a good product to have in your refrigerator. The concentrated chicken broth paste dissolves quickly in water and you can make as much broth as needed. Before I started using this product, I'd frequently be left with half a box or can of chicken broth and I'd end up having to throw it out. You can find Better than Bouillon at the Spice House or Whole Foods.
Garlic and Lemon Roasted Chicken Breasts
- 4 large bone-in chicken breasts
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly groupnd black pepper
- Zest of one lemon and juice of ¼ of that lemon
- ½ cup chicken broth – I used a teaspoon of Better than Bouillon mixed with 1/2 cup water. You can also use ½ cup white wine.
Preheat oven to 375 convection or 400 for a regular oven.
Puree garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper in a small food processor. I used a Moulinex herb chopper my Aunt Barbara gave me as a wedding gift 20 years ago.
Rub the lemon-garlic sauce under and over the skin of each chicken breast. Set the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan. The chicken can be prepared to this point earlier in the day; cover pan with foil and refrigerate. Remove foil before cooking.
Pour chicken broth/wine in the bottom of pan. Roast for 30 minutes at 375 convection or 35-40 minutes at 400 in a regular oven. The kitchen smelled strongly of garlic while the chicken was cooking, but the garlic flavor was not overpowering in the finished dish.
Turn on broiler and move chicken to top oven rack. Broil for 3-5 minutes until skin is browned. Serve. Refrigerate leftovers.
