Maggie Monday: Skillet Rosemary Chicken

I have a number of skillets in my kitchen. I find that most of the time, though, I am pulling out my largest over and over. Maybe it is cooking for a family and I need the space, or maybe just habit. How about you? Here’s Maggie with a skillet of her own….

This recipe came through recently on the Food Network Magazine Recipe of the Day. For some reason, I am attracted to the word “skillet”. When a recipe includes the word “skillet”, I automatically assume the dish will be simple, rustic, and easy.

This one hit rustic, for sure. While some of the prep was not simple, I didn’t have too much trouble taking a few shortcuts to simplify enough to suit me. On any given weekend I can be cooking for 5-10 people, depending upon how many boy and girlfriends are visiting. Simple is crucial in my cooking world!

The original recipe said to “pile rosemary leaves, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt and red pepper flakes on a cutting board then mince and mash into a paste using a large knife”. Yea. Riiiiighttt. Into the mini-food processor it all went. I then added the lemon juice and olive oil. Voila. Paste.

Other than the paste, this was a simple recipe. And perhaps the most beautiful chicken dish I have ever seen. Anywhere. It was stunning. And it tasted as good as it looked.  Since I’ve been guest blogging for The Ranting Chef, I don’t post many photos of my food on Facebook until they’ve run. This one I posted. It got lots of Likes- so I hope you’ll try this and like it too.

Go make this right now.

Skillet Rosemary Chicken

What you need:

¾ pound small red-skinned potatoes, halved or quartered if large

1 small bag baby carrots

kosher salt

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus 1 Tbs leaves

1 clove garlic, smashed

pinch of red pepper flakes

Juice of 1 lemon- reserve the halves after juicing

2 Tbs olive oil

4 skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts

10 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved

What you do:

Preheat oven to  450 degrees. Cover potatoes and carrots in cold water in a saucepan and salt the water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Place rosemary leaves, garlic, 2 tsp salt, red pepper flakes,  half of the lemon juice and olive oil in a small food processor and zap it until it becomes a smooth paste. Transfer the paste to a large bowl. Add the chicken to the bowl and coat each piece with the paste.

Heat a large cast iron skillet* over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, skin side down, cover, and cook until the skin browns, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken, then add the mushrooms and potatoes to the skillet and drizzle with the remaining lemon juice.

Add the rosemary sprigs and the squeezed lemon halves to the skillet; transfer the skillet to the over and roast, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through, and the skin is crisp- about 20-25 minutes.

* I did not feel like dragging the cast iron skillet out, so I placed my roasting pan over two burners, and browned the chicken directly in my roaster, then it went right into the oven.