Lemony Quick Chicken Dish

Sweetie is amazing! Yesterday it was so hot that it almost hurt to breathe, but he played almost two hours of tennis in the late afternoon anyway.

The high was over 100 degrees and the office was about 80 degrees, so I was actually glad to hop in the car and head off to the nursery supply for PVC fitting for my boss once he found the leak on his property. The car has a great air conditioning system so I was cool for a while.

Hard to believe that it is almost the middle of October because it feels like summer is supposed to feel inland. Didn't stop me from making a warm chicken dish to go with the rice that Sweetie started in the rice cooker before he went off to swing at tennis balls. Once I was home from work I wanted to make something quick and tasty.

This is a version of a dish I've been cooking for years and years. It's called Lemon Quick Chick and one of it's attributes is that it goes together in about a half hour. It took a bit longer to cook yesterday because I didn't cut up the chicken thighs, but it was still pretty fast.

This is a mild flavored dish with a great sauce so most kids love it. If you prefer a sauce that is thickened with something other than butter and flour you could probably get a fine sauce by adding a slurry of cornstarch and water and chicken broth after browning the chicken in a non-stick pan. If you like a bit more zing, you could sprinkle some cayenne pepper over the chicken but try it this way first...you might find that mellow lemon chicken has a place on your dinner table after all.

Lemon Quick Chick

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil

5-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or half breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 lemon, sliced thinly
minced parsley for garnish (optional)

In large skillet melt the butter, add the olive oil and heat until hot but not smoking. Add chicken pieces to the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and then with the poultry seasoning. Saute' the chicken pieces until no longer pink and starting to turn golden brown.

Reduce heat to medium, sprinkle the flour over the chicken pieces. Stir for a minute or two to cook the flour a bit. Add the chicken broth all at once. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan and to mix in the broth. Place the lemon slices on top of the chicken, distributing them around the pan.

Reduce head to low. Cover the pan and let cook 15 minutes, stirring once or twice to keep chicken from sticking. Remove pan lid and continue to cook, if necessary, until sauce becomes thick.
Serve at once over rice, noodles or mashed potatoes.

Serves 3-4.