Chicken with Olives & Capers

Delicious, company-worthy food need not take a lot of effort. This beautiful chicken dish, the recipe of which I found in Sweet Paul’s cookbook, Sweet Paul Eat and Make: Charming Recipes and Kitchen Crafts You Will Love, couldn’t be easier. A handful of ingredients, in my case, an hour in the oven, yielded a unique, tender, juicy piece of chicken in a wonderfully different, light lemony sauce. It was so good, that I have decided to always keep a jar of mixed olives on hand so that I can make it whenever I want. My guess is, it would do well to be served on a bed of mashed potatoes so that the juices can be absorbed, flavoring every mouthful of mash. I marinated mine in buttermilk in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for four hours before making this dish. I patted each chicken thigh dry with a paper towel before placing into the baking dish. Wonderful!

Chicken with Olives & Capers

from Sweet Paul Eat & Make

Serves 4

4 large or 8 small organic chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)

1 lemon, cut into wedges

1 cup mixed pitted olives

2 tablespoons drained nonpareil capers

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

NOTE: I had to bake this close to an hour before the skin became brown and got crispy, and the internal temperature reached 165°.

Preheat the oven to 400°F, with a rack in the middle position.

Place the chicken, skin side up, in a baking dish. Scatter the lemon wedges, olives, and capers on top of the chicken.

Pour the lemon juice and olive oil over the chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake until golden, basting with the juices once, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh reads 165°F. Serve.

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