Quick Lemon Chicken

I love the Lemon Chicken for a Crowd that marinates for a while and then is cooked slowly to perfection, but sometimes you need dinner in a hurry. Last week I had one of those days, so I threw together Lemon Quick Chick, a recipe I've had for ages. I've used it so long that I don't even remember where it came from, but it was probably the newspaper or a magazine.

The thing that takes the longest amount of time is making the starch that it goes over. I like rice the best, but have used mashed potatoes and, for an even shorter cooking time, pasta.

After that cutting up the chicken takes a bit of time, but not much. Often I use chicken breast, which cooks up the fastest, but last week I had boneless chicken thighs, so that's what I used. You want the pieces to be on the smaller side of bite sized because they cook up faster that way.

You will also need a lemon, some chicken broth, a few tablespoons of butter and/or oil and a few tablespoons of flour, plus seasonings like poultry seasoning, pepper, salt, and thyme. I like my lemon chicken on the mellow side, but you could also add some hot sauce if you like more bite.

This is a combination stir-fry and braise. Have everything to hand since it does go pretty quickly.

You end up with a savory dish with a lovely sauce to spoon over rice, potatoes, pasta, etc. Barley would be good, too. I served mine with steamed rice and steamed broccoli. It made a great early spring dinner.

Lemon Quick Chick
Serves 4-6

1 lb chicken, preferably boneless
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 lemon, sliced very thinly

Cut the chicken into small bite sized pieces. (I often use boneless chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs). Set aside.

In a large frying pan heat the butter or margarine and the oil, then saute' the cut up chicken, stirring so that all sides get opaque.

Add the flour and seasonings and stir, then let brown a minute, then stir again and let the mixture brown. Add the chicken broth all at once and, using a wooden spoon or similar implement, scrap up the browned flour/butter bits and stir to incorporate into the sauce. Let cook, stirring, on medium, until the sauce starts to thicken.

Placed the lemon slices around the pan on top of the chicken mixture, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook for another 2 minutes. Uncover and serve.