This easy baked chicken is super-fast and oh so delicious!
It was given to me by who else? Yes, that would be Shelley!
When you are really pressed for time, this is a great dish. It always comes out perfectly and the prep time is just minutes! If you have young children at home they will love it. If you need to get dinner on the table quickly, this is a fabulous recipe.
The skin on the chicken comes out crispy every time and the meat is always moist. My family has enjoyed it for years!
Just make sure you make enough, because everyone will ask for more!
Ingredients for the Chicken
Preheat oven to 425.
3 0r 4 pieces of chicken (dark or white meat) 2 cups of flour 2 tbsp. onion powder 2 tbsp. garlic powder 1 tsp. paprika 1 tsp. kosher salt 1/2 tsp. pepper 4 tbsp. olive oil
Combine flour, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper in a ziplock bag. Shake to combine.
Pat chicken dry with paper towels.
Add chicken to the onion powder mixture. Shake well.
Place olive oil in a baking dish or aluminum pan. Swirl around so that the bottom of the pan is entirely covered.
This dinner takes no time at all. The ingredients are simple. You may have them all in your pantry, so no need to stop at the supermarket on your way home! That is already one reason to make this dinner!
The key that makes this chicken so great is to brown the skin before you place it in the oven. This ensures a perfect, crispy skin that will not be soggy when you are finished baking it. The honey mustard sauce is simple, yet adds a wonderful boost of flavor.
The potatoes, well they are just plain easy. Let’s face it. Just cut them, toss with olive oil salt and pepper. Make sure to place them white side up before roasting. This allows the tops to brown and caramelize, which always tastes fantastic. As Anne Burrell always says “brown is good”. She is right, it always is!
Today’s Hint: Always make sure you do not put too many pieces of chicken in the pan to brown. Overcrowding the pan will make the chicken steam and not brown.
Ingredients for the Chicken
5 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs 1/4 cup of olive oil 2 tbsp. grain mustard 2 tbsp. honey Juice of 1/2 lemon 1/2 tbsp.Kosher salt 1 tsp. pepper
Preheat oven to 350.
Pat chicken thighs dry. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
Place olive oil in a pan (that can transfer to the oven) on the stove on medium heat.
When the oil is hot, place chicken in the pan skin side down. Set your timer for 7minutes. After 7 minutes, check thighs. The skin should be golden brown. You may need to adjust time. If you do, set the timer for 1-minute increments. Turn chicken over and cook for another 5 minutes. When done, pour out the fat from the chicken with the exception of about 1 tablespoon. remove pan from heat.
Mix together the grain mustard, honey and lemon juice. Pour over thighs so they are covered well and place pan in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes.
Ingredients for the Potatoes
1 pound of small red potatoes 1/4 cup of olive oil 1/2 tbsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. pepper
Preheat oven to 500.
Cut potatoes in half. Combine with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in baking pan (or aluminum) white side up.
I have been making this dish for many years. It has become a staple in my go-to recipes. This is a dish that is easy to prepare (you make it the night before) yet will look and taste as if you have been cooking it all day!
This recipe is courtesy of the beloved Silver Palate Cookbook. It is deserving of a post as I hope to pass it on to those of you who have not tried it yet.
The marinade for this dish is extraordinary. The combination of the olives, prunes and capers give it a Spanish style flavor and helps the chicken to come out moist, tender and juicy. It also provides a unique texture that will be a delight to your guests!
This recipe is a must try!
Today’s Hint: Always read the entire recipe before you start cooking. This will help you organize your preparation plan and remember details you might miss along the way. Measure, chop and prepare all the ingredients first. Set them aside until you need them. This will make the actual process of cooking your recipe more efficient with less mistakes. It will also prevent you from discovering missing ingredients at the last minute.
Ingredients for Chicken Marbella
1/2 cup olive oil 1/2 cup red wine vinegar 1 cup pitted prunes 1/2 cup pitted Spanish green olives 1/2 cup capers with a bit of juice 6 bay leaves 1 head of garlic, peeled and finely chopped 1/4 cup dried oregano 3 tbsp. Kosher salt 1/2 tbsp pepper 2 chickens, cut into eighths 1 cup dark brown sugar 1 cup of good, dry white wine 1/4 cup fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley or fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Combine the olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers and their juice, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper into a flat pan. Cover the chicken with the mixture, rubbing it well onto the chicken.
Cover the pan and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat 350.
Spoon mixture over top of the chicken again.
Sprinkle the brown sugar over the chicken and pour the white wine around them.
Bake, basting frequently with the pan juices, for 50 minutes up to 1 hour. Prick the thigh, the juice should run clear, not pink.
Transfer chicken to a serving platter. Spoon pan juice over the chicken and sprinkle generously with the parsley.
It’s that simple! I promise you will love this recipe!
This recipe comes from my mother’s collection. Cooking does not get any faster or easier than this! Cornish hens are a hybrid chicken which are sold whole. Although the bird is referred to as a “hen”, it can either be male or female. They always come out juicy and delicious, even the white meat! This is one of my favorites! The number of people whom you are serving will determine the number of hens you buy. They tend be very small, so I usually consider 1/2 of a hen per person. For my family of 4, I cook 2 hens.
The rice recipe was given to me by a friend, who grew up up with it as a staple in her home country. Once you start eating freshly made white rice, you will never be able to go back to the packaged kind again! I stood next to her and carefully measured the ingredients while she threw it together…it was second nature to her! I am happy to now share her recipe with you, as it comes out perfectly every time. Of course you can substitute brown rice or your favorite grain, but I prefer the white rice, as it blends flawlessly with the sauce from the cornish hen. You should try it!
Ingredients for the Cornish Hen
1 or 2 Cornish Hens 1 jar of Gold’s Duck Sauce (Hot and Spicy or regular) 2 tbsp. garlic powder 2 tsp. onion powder 1 tsp. paprika 1 tbsp. oregano 1 tsp. Kosher salt 1/2 tsp. pepper
Preheat oven to 350.
Sprinkle garlic powder mixture over entire hen.
Place in baking pan breast side up. Pour Gold’s duck sauce over hen.
Cook for 1 hour. Check hen to see if it is fully cooked. Juices should run out clear when fully cooked. If you need to, set your timer for 10 minute increments and keep rechecking.
Once your hen is done put your oven on broil and leave it there for 3 minutes. Top of hen should be slightly charred and nicely caramelized.
Ingredients for the Rice
2 tbsp. olive oil 2 cups white rice 2 1/2 cups water 1 tbsp. Kosher salt
Rinse rice.
Put water and oil in pan on stovetop over medium high heat uncovered. Bring to a boil.
Add rice and salt. Stir to mix. Bring temperature down to medium heat. Set your timer for 7 minutes. After about 7 minutes water will cook down.
Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 15 minutes.
Turn off heat, and fluff rice. Cover again, and wait for about 15 minutes.
I just love this dinner! It is always my go to when I need to get a meal on the table fast. The next time you are trying to figure out what to make and may be thinking take-out, reconsider! By the time you figure out where you want to order from and who wants what, this can be prepared and on the table!
I am going to offer two ways to make the chicken. The first one you may choose to make if you have the time, or are having company. The second will be faster. Neither one takes long to prepare. Both will result in a moist, delicious bird that your family or company will love.
Broccolini is a vegetable that you don’t see too often in recipe magazines or books. I don’t know why because it is fantastic. It is very similar to broccoli, but with smaller florets and longer, thinner stalks and is also known as “baby broccoli”. It is a very delicate vegetable that only needs to be cooked briefly. This adds up to fast and simple in my book. Try it, I know you will love it!
Preheat oven to 375.
If you have the time, try adding this step first. You will need: (my essence, or yours!)
1 stick of margarine or butter melted 2 tbsp. fresh oregano (or 1 tbsp dried) 2 tbsp. fresh thyme (or 1 tbsp dried) Juice of half a lemon 2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper
Mix all ingredients together.
Take two fingers and place between skin and meat of chicken. Slowly and carefully separate the skin from the meat. (I know this looks bad, but in the end it tastes great!)
With a spoon, pour melted butter mixture in between the skin and the meat.
If you do not have the time, skip the first step and just prepare as follows;
Make your essence. Here is mine (just in case you missed it in my previous blog).
Mix and sprinkle all ingredients (without the paprika) over entire chicken. Make sure to get it under thigh and wings. Pat onto chicken.
Next trickle on paprika and pat onto chicken as well.
I like to make my roast chicken on a vertical roaster. You can purchase it on amazon and it is very inexpensive. This method allows all the fat to drip down into the pan so you get a perfectly crisp chicken every time. If you don’t have a vertical roaster, you can place the chicken breast side up in a baking pan.
Place vertical roaster in aluminum pan and put in oven.
Set timer for 15 minutes.
Turn oven down to 350 and roast for 1 hour. You may need a little more or less time depending on the size of the chicken. Make sure to adjust your timer for 10 minute increments if needed.
Ingredients for the Broccolini
Preheat oven to 500.
3 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon 2 tbsp. balsalmic vinegar
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. pepper
Wash and trim ends off broccolini. Place in bowl with ingredients and mix well.
Transfer to baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes. Take out when broccolini is bright green. Remember, it will still cook after you remove it from the oven!
