Ina Garten’s Lemon and Garlic Chicken

Succulent, moist, supremes of chicken, are cooked nestled in a bed of lemon, garlic, herbs, white wine and olive oil. The skin is simply rubbed with olive oil and seasoned purely with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to guarantee a crispy skin with pops of salty, peppery deliciousness. Whilst in the oven, all the incredible flavours are absorbed directly into the flesh from the lemon and garlic mixture below and the oil and wine guarantee that the breast maintains its juicy and moist texture.

Serves 2

Course Main Course

Keyword chicken, Garlic, lemon, olive oil

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 37 minutes

Ingredients

3 tablespoons good quality olive oil, divided
20g/5 plump cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed or finely chopped
3 tablespoons dry white wine
grated zest from 1 lemon
juice from ½ lemon
¾ teaspoon dried oregano or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano leaves
2 stalks fresh thyme or ¾ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon fine salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 supremes of chicken (or use breasts), skin on, around 175g – 225g each, at room temperature
extra sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
½ lemon – cut into 4

Instructions

Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients. Remember to take your chicken supremes/breasts out of the fridge, to come to room temperature, before you cook them. This can take around half an hour, depending on the ambient temperature. (See below for more details.)
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 (fan 180°C)
Measure 2 tablespoons olive oil into a saucepan over a moderate to low heat and add the crushed garlic. Cook for 1 minute and remove from the heat.
Next add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. Pour into a baking dish.
Pat the chicken breasts dry with kitchen paper and place, flesh side down, in the lemon and garlic mix. Drizzle with the extra olive oil and rub evenly into the skin with your fingers, or use a cooking brush.
Season with flakes of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and tuck the lemon wedges in the dish around the chicken. Bake in the centre of a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, check the chicken to make sure it is not too brown already, and crank up the heat up to 250°C/480°F/Gas 9 (fan 230°C). Cook for a further 10 minutes until the meat is cooked through and the skin is brown and crispy. (See below for how to test when chicken is cooked.)
Remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil and set aside for 5 – 10 minutes to rest. It is important that you only loosely cover the chicken or it will sweat in the heat and you will lose the wonderfully crispy skin.
Serve with the pan juices, silky mashed potatoes and some green vegetables or a green salad on the side.

Recipe Notes

Equipment:

kitchen scales and measuring spoons
chopping board and knife
saucepan
baking dish. The dish I use for 2 good sized chicken supremes/breasts is 20cm/8in square.Or use a cast iron pan and melt the butter and garlic directly in it.

More details on ingredients and instructions:

Please see the ingredient list and the instructions in the post above, for further information.

Where is this recipe from?

This recipe is from the wonderful American cook, Ina Gartner, who you may know as the Barefoot Contessa. To see the recipe directly on her website, and view other wonderful dishes, please click here.

What are supremes of chicken?

Supremes of chicken, or suprême de volaille, are simply skin-on chicken breasts with the first joint of the chicken wing attached. Available in some butchers, but rarely in supermarkets, (in the UK at least) they are normally interchangeable with skin-on chicken breasts. Why should meat be cooked at room temperature?

When you cook meat, the muscles in the flesh contract and tighten when heated. The colder the muscles the more they will contract; this means it is harder for the heat to distribute evenly. By letting the meat come to room temperature before you cook it, the meat will cook more evenly and when cooked, it will be juicier. It can take between 20 – 40 minutes for fridge cold chicken breasts to reach room temperature, depending on their size and the ambient room temperature.

Rest the meat after cooking:

As the muscles of the meat contract and tighten when cooked, the juices are forced toward the surface of the meat and some will evaporate. (Which is why overcooked meat is dry.) Allowing the meat to rest after you have removed the heat source, means the muscles will relax and the juices can re-distribute throughout the meat. If you cut it immediately, you are in danger of losing some of these juices; your chicken may then be dry and the flavour from those gorgeous juices will be lost.

Check the chicken is cooked:

Pierce centre of the breast flesh with a skewer; any juices coming out of the chicken should be clear and the meat should be opaque. If you see any pinkness or blood, cook for a further 5 – 10 minutes. If you use a meat thermometer, the internal temperature of the breast should read 165°F or 75°C.