Lemon Garlic Chicken Recipe from Shelter Bay

Not far from the Oregon coast town of Shelter Bay is Rainbow Lake. There's an inn at the lake people have been coming to for nearly a century, partly to view the magnificent falls that tumble into the sparkling blue water. But over the last thirty years, the lemon garlic chicken from the lodge's Comfort Cooking Café has proven a popular draw.

Although it took some coaxing, the owner, Cora, who appears in the second book of my upcoming Shelter Bay series (launching July 6th!), understands that everyone needs comfort food, so she was kind enough to share her recipe with me. Now I'm sharing it with you. The best thing about this chicken is that it's super for winter snow days, but light enough to eat in the summer, too.

Cora's Lemon Garlic Chicken

Ingredients:

Four chicken drumsticks
Four chicken thighs
3 lemons
10-15 cloves of garlic (and yes, that sounds like a lot, but trust me, they mellow in the cooking!)
2 Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (or dried, enough to lightly sprinkle over over chicken in the pan -- Cora doesn't measure, but 2 teaspoons is a good estimate.)
Salt and pepper.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

LIGHTLY brown the chicken in light olive oil, or canola oil, or mixture of both. (Canola cooks at a higher heat without burning.)

Put the browned chicken pieces in a large bowl. (I've tried them both with skin on, and skinned and they're just as good skinned, which is healthier. I would suggest getting thighs with the bone in, since bones do add flavor.)

Slice the lemons in half. Juice them. Cora's trick for those rock hard lemons you often get in the store is to microwave them for 10-20 seconds, then roll them between your palms or on the counter to release the juice.

Add juice, halved lemon rinds, salt and pepper to taste, garlic, and thyme to the bowl with the chicken.

Mix well, then pour into a large baking pan. (Aluminum, Pyrex, it doesn't matter, I've used both successfully.)

Bake for 30-45 minutes, basting every 10 minutes. When the skin gets a bit crispy and the meat is cooked through, it's done.

Serve with the pan sauce. Enjoy!

Cora and I both serve this dish with rice. Although she cooks it up big pots, I've started cheating by using the easy microwave bag, but I sauté it in a frying pan, substituting chicken stock (I make my own, but you can buy low sodium canned), for the water listed in the instructions.