Lemony Chicken

When I was growing up we had chicken a lot. At least once a week, if not more. That was because our neighbor raised chickens and rather than put money he didn't have in the box at the back of the church (the church where I grew up did not take an offering) he would give the preacher a chicken and eggs once or twice a week, and mom was always cooking chicken in some different way. I guess you could say he tithed on what God had given him, which was chickens and eggs.

Well, one day mom read a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and that started a whole new way (a worn out way, I might add) of cooking chicken for the family. Now, instead of stewed, roasted, or fried, we got baked chicken. Somehow, it always turns out dry and I think that's because mom overcooked it.

Now I know what you're going to say -- you have to really, really cook chicken good or you could die. Well, that may be so, but so far I haven't died from undercooked chicken, and it's not that I undercook my baked chicken, it's just that I don't cook it to oblivion.

Here's how I do it, and the recipe is just a little different from my mom's because she never had "lemon pepper" in her store of spices. And, she used a whole chicken cut up, whereas, I use chicken breast, halved -- one half for me, one half for Alan. However, I have to admit we neither of us can eat the whole half most of the time.

I put the chicken halves (bone in, skin on) in an oven proof pan (I have a Calphelon pan I love for this purpose), skin up. I sprinkle on the chicken: salt, lemon pepper (generously), garlic salt, and the zest of one lemon. This I put in the oven at 350 degrees for one hour .

After one hour, I check for red pan drippings after I poke one with a fork. If no drippings of the red kind, I remove the chicken from oven and let set for 15 minutes uncovered. I'm told that's called resting. For me it was always just a matter of getting everything else ready for the table and the chicken sat 'til everything else was ready.

That about does it. It is good. Often in the middle of the bake I top with a couple of dabs of butter, just a little bit, not a Paula Dean size portion. That makes the crust crisper, and who doesn't just love a crispy crust?

PS: We had this for dinner tonight and Alan did like it. But we each only ate 1/2 a breast each. I put it with a large fresh greens salad with lemon/oil dressing; and asparagus, baked in the oven for 15 minutes sprinkles with salt/lemon pepper/olive oil/ and lemon. Even Alan ate it. I love asparagus fixed this way. Certainly better than that canned stuff my mom tried to feed to me!


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