Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 2-3 pounds fresh chicken (thighs work best and are good portion sizes)
1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (can use bottle kind, but not as good)
2 lemons thinly sliced
1/2 cup brown sugar
FRESH mint sprigs - 2 leaves per piece of chicken (can use dry mint- 1-2 Tbsp, but not as good)
2 packages of shake n bake for chicken (various kinds but original was what grandma used)
Line two 9x13 pans with tin foil - so clean up is a breeze.
Gravy
1/2 stick of butter
3 TBS flour
2-2 ½ cups of milk - whole milk tastes best
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Directions: |
Directions:Preheat oven to 275 º, wait for oven to completely heat before putting in chicken.
1) Wash and pat dry chicken and let dry on paper towels, removing excess fatty portions
2) Dip one piece of chicken into the lemon juice then,
3) Place one piece of chicken into the shake and bake bag, twist bag and shake until fully coated
4) Place onto the cookie sheet.
5) Repeat for all remaining pieces of chicken.
6) Sprinkle each piece of chicken generously with brown sugar.
7) Place into the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.
8) Remove chicken from the oven. Top with sprigs of mint and return to oven for additional 5 minutes
9) Remove from oven and cut into one of the largest pieces to ensure it is done all the way through. If not, return to the oven and repeat every 5 minutes until done. Ovens vary and size of chicken vary, so this is an important quality control - ensure they are cooked all the way through before removing from the oven to cool.
10) WAIT at least 5 minutes to serve. The brown sugar will be HOT and can burn the top of your mouth... I speak from experience...being impatient and not listening to my mother or grandmother's warnings.
You can then use the dripping from the chicken to make a gravy.
1) Place all drippings with 1/2 stick of butting into a preheated skillet.
2) Sprinkle in 3 TBS of flour, whisking constantly until the flour is incorporated and turns a golden to medium brown.
3) Add milk, slowly, whisking constantly, until it looks like there are no longer any lumps inthe flour and the skillet is about 1/2 full of milk.
4) Lower the temp, stirring constantly, until the gravy starts to boil. Keep stiring until the milk takes on a golden/tan color.
5) Gravy will thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. We like Tony's creole spice in ours, but you may like something with a little less kick...or more depending on where you like your heat. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: Grandma Coakley used to make this often for me, so often I recall her delicate fingers placing each mint leaf which I had collected from outside in our yard. The combination of sugar and mint and spice just made dinner feel like home. Mashed potatoes would compliment the meal in her glass green bowl and hand held sunbeam mixer. Leaving the mint until the end makes it so pretty. If you forget and place it early in the cooking, it turns brown and bitter (a lesson I have had to learn more than once).
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This recipe for Grandma Coakley's lemon chicken is from