The easiest chicken recipe you will EVER make!

This past Tuesday was one of my nights to cook, and after what I knew would be a long day at work I wanted to make something that would be easy! When I looked on the weekly menu at lunch, my hopes dropped a little when I saw the words "Lemon Chicken." In the past, my experience with lemon chicken has been long and drawn out. I'm talking the "dredge in a lemon juice mixture, then breadcrumbs, and bake" charade that is mostly enjoyable, but can seem to drag on for an eternity when you're tired! And it had never tasted "just right" for me. My mom must have noticed my dismay because she shoved the recipe in my direction almost instantly.

Sometime last year, I was given a Jackson Junior League cookbook. (If your mind instantly went to the movie or book "The Help" when you read that, trust me, mine did too!!) There are SO MANY good recipes in that book, it's unreal! I've used it a little bit, but unfortunately, I haven't had as much time to experiment with the recipes as I would like to. I highly recommend that you at least have a copy of it somewhere in your house! Preferably your kitchen. ;) 

Anyway, when my eyes fell on the page that said "Baked Lemon and Rosemary Chicken" I was sold! Until I read the recipe and noticed that it called for a whole chicken...which we did not own... And the lemon and rosemary was supposed to be put inside the chicken...that we still didn't own.. So I looked over the directions again and decided that I could still pull it off if we had chicken breasts (the boneless, skinless kind). My mom said that she would dig the meat out of the freezer and defrost it for when I got home. (I love this woman!! Or maybe she was just happy not to cook...) Then, she called me and said that we only had bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. I thought about it for probably a split second and said "that works!" into the phone a bit louder than I should have. I said that it would definitely work because I had skin to work with! (I've never been more happy about chicken skin in my entire life! Haha!) 

When I got home that night, I got to work on the chicken: took it out of the packaging, rinsed it, dried it, loosened the skin, sliced my lemons, trimmed and washed my fresh Rosemary (gardens in your backyard are awesome), and preheated the oven. Actually....I think I did all of that in reverse! Once everything was ready, I began to assemble the dish. All I did was simply pull the chicken skin open (open not off) enough to slide 2-3 thinly sliced lemon wedges and a sprig of rosemary inside. Then, I sprinkled the top with salt and pepper and repeated the whole process 2 more times. I baked it at 350 degrees for 25 minutes (depending on cut, size, etc. it may take more or less time) then let it "rest" for 10 minutes to let the juices settle. After that, I pulled the lemon slices and rosemary sprig out of the skin, sliced the meat off of the bone, plated it (with a small sprinkling of fresh lemon juice for a little more flavor), and ate it with a side of "green beans and bell pepper in balsamic vinegar" and a green salad! Pure Heaven!!! 

   The chicken was extremely moist and the lemon flavor was, to quote Paula Deen, "out of this world!" :)

Happy eating,

~HB~