Lemon Chicken Thighs

This is my second month as a member of “Blogger C.L.U.E.”. I mentioned last month that it’s a fun group that some of my fellow bloggers and myself are doing through Facebook where each month, we recreate a recipe from the blog of one of the other members. Man, that was one heck of a run on sentence! As I was saying, we recreate a recipe from a fellow group member. It’s all done in secret. We get assignments and until the reveal day, we don’t who had our blog nor does the person we got assigned know we have them.
This month I got Lea Ann from the blog Cooking On The Ranch . Her blog was new to me and I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve found. She has a good variety of recipes, from ethnic recipes to recipes that scream American to others that she terms as “no recipe required”, but that are so simple that she pretty much just lays out what you need to do with a certain set of ingredients.

The theme for this month was “foods your grandmother would have cooked”. Well, I unfortunately didn’t know either of my grandmothers enough to say what they would have cooked, so I twisted the theme a little. I’M a grandma so I did it more as what might be the type of foods my own grandkids could conceivably end up with memories of ME cooking. After looking through her whole blog a couple of times, I found myself continually coming back to one titled Lemon Chicken Thighs which came under the “No Recipe Required” category. Was it simple? Extremely so. Did that mean it was boring? On the contrary… this was delicious.

Generally, we are supposed to keep the recipes as close to the original as possible and for the most part, I did that. The recipe called just for salt and pepper as well as the lemon slices put underneath the chicken thighs as they roasted. The only thing I did differently was to shove some sliced onion in the pan and add some Tuscan Seasoning to the chicken because the flavors in it (oregano, basil, thyme, etc) go so well with lemony dishes. The onions were just because they smell fabulous when roasting and while they don’t add flavor to the chicken, they add it to the drippings and I love to use those on rice or potatoes 🙂 I also squeezed some lemon juice on top of the chicken to make sure both sides had that lemony flavor.

You all know the drill! Get to cooking! This is a wonderful and very easy weeknight “I need to get dinner made quickly” sort of meat. Add some sides and there you go. I’m going to do this the same way Lea Ann did and not post it as an actual recipe, but more just as a process. I know that’s not how I typically do things, but this is so darn easy, it works great that way!

Lemon Chicken Thighs

Heat your oven to 425 degrees. Thinly slice two lemons (I used three so that I had some lemon to squeeze on top). Overlap them in a baking pan, two or three at a time, then lay a chicken thigh on top of each grouping. Obviously if you are using a lot of chicken, increase the lemon to suffice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper . (I also used some McCormick Tuscan Seasoning on top of my chicken and squeezed some lemon juice on top) Roast at 425 for about 30 minutes or until juices run clear and the skin is all nice and crispy. Aim for an internal temp of about 170 for dark meat.

That’s it. Could it be any easier!? I promise, it couldn’t be any tastier!

Here are the other bloggers participating in Blogger C.L.U.E. this month. Go check them out and see what deliciousness they all created! Somewhere in there is something from right here on my blog!

• Lemon Mascarpone Layer Cake from Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Beef Barley Soup from Kate at Kate’s Kitchen 
• Scrambled Egg Sandwich from Christiane at Taking on Magazines
• Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix from Debra at Eliot’s Eats
• Ginger Snap Cookies from Lisa at Authentic Suburban Gourmet
• Scalloped Potato Cottage Pie from Ramona at Curry and Comfort
• Lemon Chicken Thighs from Janet at From Cupcakes to Caviar
• Christy from Culinary Diva
• Persimmon Syrup and Persimmon Smash Cocktail from Alice at A Mama, Baby & Shar-pei in the Kitchen
• Smoky Potato Corn and Poblano Chowder from Azmina at Lawyer Loves Lunch
• Apple Butter and Body Lotion from Kelli at Kelli’s Kitchen
• Roasted Honey Rosemary Pecans from Kim at Liv Life
• Susan from Create Amazing Meals
• Best Ever Ginger Snaps from Aly at Cooking in Stilettos
• Brats and Kraut from Lea Ann at Cooking on the Ranch
• Kathy from Bakeaway with Me
• Pumpkin Scones from Anna at Anna Dishes
• Roasted and Stuffed Eggplant from Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Swedish Dark Rye Bread from Wendy at A Day in the Life On a Farm
• Spelt Dinner Rolls from Jean at Lemons and Anchovies
• Rum Spiked Chocolate Chip Cookies from Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Copyright Notice: From Cupcakes To Caviar images and original content are copyright protected. Please do not publish these materials anywhere without prior permission.