Lemon Chicken makes short work of dinner
Are you a food watcher or a food doer? With so many channels and so many programs about cooking and food, it’s a wonder we ever get off the sofa and go fix dinner! When we posed this question to readers of our KitchenScoop.com website, we loved this contribution from a woman in Kansas named Martha. Here’s her story:
“I learned to really cook watching the Saturday-morning cooking shows on PBS — ‘Frugal Gourmet,’ ‘Julia Child,’ ‘Jacques Pepin’ and others. Now my TV is often tuned to the Food Network — so yes, I’m also a watcher. When I decided to quit my ‘real job’ to purchase and open a restaurant in 1986, I collected menus and did research while on business trips. I’d recently bought ‘The Silver Palate Cookbook’ (Workman, 1981) and loved the Lemon Chicken recipe. I managed a trip to New York and visited the tiny Silver Palate store for inspiration.
“I naively had called the store the week before to see if (authors) Sheila Lukins or Julee Rosso could meet with me to share some tips on owning a gourmet store. Would you believe Julee actually returned my call? But I was already on my way to NYC. This was shortly before they sold the store and concentrated on their condiments line and more cookbooks.
“This recipe remains my favorite chicken recipe and something I often make for friends just home from the hospital with a new baby, or for picnics, because it is just as good cold as right from the oven. It also uses the tarragon that grows beside my front steps.
“I’ve made changes to the original recipe through the years. Once, when I didn’t have enough lemons, I crushed some lemon-drop candies and sprinkled them on top. Interesting, but I didn’t repeat it. Most of the time, I omit the chicken stock and use all lemon juice.”
Today’s recipe is Martha’s adaptation of the Silver Palate recipe — which we’ve slightly adapted to fit our Desperation Dinners recipe style. But the signature flavors and goodness are all still there. Thanks so much to Martha for sharing! Do you have a favorite food story? We would love to hear from you at tellus@KitchenScoop.com.
Suggested menu: Martha’s Lemon Chicken with roasted potatoes and steamed spinach
Ÿ Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross are co-authors of #147;Desperation Dinners!#148; Contact them at Desperation Dinners, c/o United Media, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016, or tellus@kitchenscoop.com. More at the Desperation Dinners website, kitchenscoop.com.