Warning: Your kitchen will smell so good, your whole family will come rushing to the dinner table for this meal! The fragrant garlic bubbling (or tanning) in olive oil, mixed with the clean citrus smell of the lemon, makes this dish moist, tender and decedent.
INGREDIENTS
6 Chicken breasts (about 4 1/2 pounds)
2 cups Flour
Olive Oil *
1/8 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper
2 Tbsps Thyme, dried (or 2 sprigs, fresh)
1 Lemon, juice and peel
DIRECTIONS
1. Slice each breast in half, lengthwise, as if making chicken fingers.
2. In a large (gallon sized) zip-top bag put the flour, plus half of the
thyme, salt and pepper. Give it a quick mix. Add your chicken into
the bag, a few pieces at a time and shake the bag until each strip
is evenly coated. Take each piece of chicken out and shake off any
excess flour. Set the chicken aside on a plate, while preparing the
garlic-oil.
3. Pour enough olive oil to cover about 1/4 inch of the bottom of your
pan. The amount of oil will depend on pan size, I used 1 cup of oil
in a 9 inch pan. Heat the oil for 1-2 minutes on medium-high heat.
4. Add the garlic to the pan and stir for about 1-2 minutes, maintain
the heat at medium-high. This will allow the garlic to infuse in the
oil, keep an eye not to burn the garlic. Your want it to be light golden
colored; if it turns dark golden or light brown it will taste bitter.
5. When the oil starts to boil, carefully place the chicken in and cook
for 3-4 minutes. Don't worry if your pan is crowded just make sure
each piece is in the oil. As it is cooking slightly lift the pieces a little,
just to ensure there is enough oil under each piece.
6. Flip each piece over, you should start to seeing pieces of golden
brown garlic sticking to the bottom of the chicken- that is the
beginning of your garlic crust! Add the lemon zest** and the juice
of half the lemon. Continue to cook on medium-high heat for
another 3-4 minutes.
7. Flip each piece again for the final time, add the other half of the
lemon juice. Sprinkle the left over thyme, salt and pepper.
Continue to cook for 8-10 more minutes. At this point your chicken
should have a nice brown crust and it should be completely cooked.
I recommend using a thermometer to make sure the chicken is
cooked. Insert thermometer at thickest piece of the chicken and it
should read 165 F. If you don't have one, make sure the chicken
juices run clear and cut the thickest part to make sure it is not pink.
* I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil
** Zest is when you scrape off the peel (outer colored part) of a citrus fruit, for use as
flavoring. To zest a lemon you can use a zester (kitchen tool) or you can carefully use
your knife to peel the skin. Just make sure that there is little to no white under the peel,
as that part of the fruit is very bitter. Once you have your peel you slice it very thin- into
strips, it should look like small matchsticks. You can make them as small as you want,
what you really need is enough to give your meal a fresh, velvety, bright taste.
Photo Credit: RedStarRecipe
