Honey Lemon Chicken - and we have a house!

Well hello there.

I've missed you. Actually that's a lie. I haven't missed a whole lot in the past two months. I've been obsessively trying to close on a house. In fact closing on this house was much like hopping on a ride at Disney Land that lasted 2 months longer than you thought it would. And made you puke a lot. And gave you gray hair and made you eat bars and bars of dark chocolate with copious amounts of red wine. And made you try weird carnival like foods like Texas Red Chili which made you thank God you didn't normally have an urge to try such things.

Anyway it's finally done. I'm a home owner again. And over the moon about it, though still slightly stunned.

Let's get back to the cooking.

I made a couple things during this time of extended stress worth sharing. One of them was a take on Ina Garten's Lemon Chicken. I made mine with boneless skinless chicken breasts 'cuz that's what I had y'all!' and added a bit of honey because sugar seemed to help out with the stress.

In fact at one point during all of this I was eating so much chocolate in the afternoon I began to seek a little variety - adding dried cherries to my routine and alternating them with salted roasted almonds sort of like a fat man's granola. Like I said it was stressful. I put on a couple pounds. Even almost had boobs for half a second.

ANYWAY. The chicken. Damn good. I recommend it during times of stress or not. Great entertaining dish 'cause it's pretty. And easy. And Ina Garten-y.

Good to see y'all again.

Honey Lemon Chicken
*slightly adapted from Ina Garten
*serves 4, easily adapted if you can do math (which I can't)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped (Ina reccos 2 heaping tablespoons, chopped)
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon honey (my addition)
• pinch red pepper flakes (my addition)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves plus extra for garnish
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (6 to 8 ounces each) CAN USE SKINLESS BUT WATCH COOKING TIME
• 1 lemon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don't allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, red pepper, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a greased 9 by 12-inch baking dish.

Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them lightly with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (25 MINUTES IF USING SKINLESS/CUTLETS, COVERING WITH FOIL AFTER 15 MINUTES IF STARTING TO BROWN TOO MUCH BC OF THE HONEY), depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn't browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve hot with the pan juices and additional thyme for garnish.

Serve over rice or couscous.