Love me some lemon chicken

As I was preparing my menu for our pre-fast dinner on Erev Yom Kippur/Kol Nidre, I wanted something light, filling and yummy. Oh, and it had to go well with Mimi's kasha varnishkas (kasha and bowties for any non-Eastern Europeans!!) My mom has made a version of Ina Garten's Lemon Chicken (http://m.foodnetwork.com/recipes/535857) many times, and I like it but wanted to make it my own. I didn't have boneless breasts with skin, I don't like oregano, I don't have time to zest and I wanted a stronger lemon flavor! So I made my version of this dish and it was SO yummy! I used boneless/skinless breasts and boneless/skinless thighs and it came out so great. It also reheated well, as I prepared it earlier in the day then just left it covered on the stove until it was time to reheat and serve for dinner. Oh, and it did go great with the kasha afterall, as well as garlicky gingery string beans, strawberry applesauce, brisket, and homemade challah. Hope you have as yummy of an experience as we did!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs boneless skinless breasts
• 2 lbs bonless skinless thighs (or any combination of one or the other)
• 1/2 cup EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) plus more for browning chicken
• 2/3 cup dry white wine (I used a cheap chardonnay but use what you like to drink or have open)
• 9 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (hold the seeds!)
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped (hold stems and strip leaves off backwards-great trick!)
• kosher salt (it's all I use)
• black pepper
• 1 lemon

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Heat 2-3 tablespoons of EVOO (separate from the 1/2 cup) in a large skillet. Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper and add to skillet. Brown on one side about 5 minutes or until a nice golden color develops, then flip the pieces over and brown on the other side. If your skillet is not big enough to do all the chicken in a single layer then separate into 2 batches so the chicken has room to brown-you don't want it to steam. You are not cooking the chicken here, just want to brown it to seal in juices and give nice color to chicken, otherwise chicken will be too "white" in the finished dish." Remove chicken and set on cookie sheet.
• Combine EVOO, wine, garlic, lemon juice, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a glass bowl and whisk well.
• Add chicken pieces to a large baking dish and pour the sauce over the chicken.
• Cut the lemon into 8 wedges and place among the chicken pieces.
• Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is done. Serve hot or reheats beautifully, just let cool then cover and reheat when ready to serve. The sauce would be delish over egg noodles, rice, potatoes, kasha varnishkas (yummy!)...

Eat and enjoy!