Greek Chicken

 
The recipe which I am sharing today was adapted from a cookbook by Mary Younkin, entitled "The Weeknight Dinner Cookbook."  I have been keen to try it for a while now. Today was the day. (Tuesday as I write this.) 
 
The flavours and simplicity of the dish really appealed to me.  I have cut the quantities in half as we are a small family and neither one of us is overly fond of leftover chicken on the bone reheated.  I find it takes on a flavor that I find quite unappealing. 
 
I had tried another recipe last week, which I did not share with you.  It was not the best tasting dish.  It was called Halfsies Chicken, and I got the recipe on Food52.  It had looked and sounded very appealing, but in all truth we both did not like it at all. It was far too garlicky and we found the smell was quite repugnant. (Just saying! Don't shoot the messenger!)
 
This one looked a lot more appealing and I can tell you it smelled a lot more appealing as well. My refrigerator stunk like that other recipe for days afterwards, not to mention my house.  This was very pleasant in contrast.
 
The recipe requires marinating bone in, skin on chicken thighs overnight, or for at least 6 to 8 hours, in a simple marinade, steeped with Greek flavours  . . .
 
Thinly sliced red onions, thinly sliced garlic  . . .  along with dried thyme and oregano . . .
 
are mixed in a zip lock baggie along with some olive oil, lemon juice and red wine vinegar . . .  along with some salt and black pepper of course . . .
 
You just mix together all of those ingredients in a zip lock baggie (or a bowl with a cover) and then pop in the chicken.  I massaged them a bit with the marinade to make sure that all the pieces were well coated.
 
After that you simply pop the bag into the fridge and forget about it until you are ready to cook it.   (I did give the bag a bit of a shake whenever I remembered it.) Ideally overnight, but you can also put it into marinade early in the day and then cook it that night for supper. 
 
When you are ready to cook it, just remove the chicken from, and discard the marinade . . . pop it onto a baking sheet and roast in a hot oven.
 
I roasted it skin side down for half an hour, and then skin side up for the remaining time, with the end result being beautifully golden brown and crisp skin, and moist and tender chicken meat . . .
 
You could also cook it outdoors on the grill, according to your manufacturers instructions. She recommends cooking it over medium coals, lid down for about half an hour, and then flipping it, and continuing to grill for a further 20 minutes or so (lid down) until the juices run clear. 
 
I think I might try that when the weather warms up a bit.  I think it would be really good done on the BBQ and served with some salads when we have people over.  Its really yummy and easy too!
  
We both really enjoyed this chicken.  It smelled amazing when it was cooking and looked amazing also! I served it with some veggie rice and mixed vegetables on the side!
Yield: 3 - 4Author: Marie RaynerPrint Recipe
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Greek Chicken

prep time: 24 hourcook time: 1 hourtotal time: 25 hoursPlan ahead as the chicken needs to marinate overnight.  The end result is moist and tender pieces of chicken, filled with delicious flavours!

ingredients:

• 6 small free range chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
• 1 small red onion, peeled and very thinly sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and very thinly sliced
• 120ml olive oil (1/2 cup)
• 60ml fresh lemon juice (1/4 cup)
• 30ml red wine vinegar (1/8 cup)
• 1/2 TBS dried oregano
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

To Serve (optional):

• fresh thyme leaves
• fresh chopped flat leaf parsley
• lemon wedges

instructions:

1. Have ready a large plastic container with a lid, or a large zip lock baggie.  Shake the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, sliced onions and garlic together in the bag.  add the chicken pieces and rub well into the marinade to coat all over.  Zip the bag shut and place in the refrigerator overnight.
2. When you are ready to cook the chicken, remove it from the refrigerator. Remove the chicken from  and discard the marinade.
3. Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F gas mark 6.  Line a large baking tray with aluminum foil.  Place the chicken pieces on the baking sheet, skin side down.
4. Roast for 30 minutes.  Flip over so that the skin is now on top.  Return to the oven and roast for a further 30 minutes, until golden brown and the chicken juices run clear.  Let rest for  5 to 10 minutes, Sprinkle with the herb (s) and serve immediately with lemon wedges if desired.

Created using The Recipes Generator
 
If you are a fan of juicy well flavoured chicken, you can't go wrong with this recipe!  Nom nom!