It was a chaotic Thursday evening: My 18-month previous was on all fours attempting to drink water out of our cat’s bowl, the cat was yowling in protest, and, having forgotten it was my evening to prepare dinner dinner, I used to be shoulders-deep in my fridge in search of a simple dinner resolution. I noticed some hen and a tragic lemon in determined want of utilizing, and selected hen piccata…solely to appreciate we had no capers or eggs. I used to be about to counsel cereal for dinner earlier than I remembered that my Birmingham, Alabama-based take a look at kitchen colleague Melissa Grey had not too long ago developed a simple but luxurious lemon-pepper hen recipe for Critical Eats—which I had all of the substances for. 

Tender, moist, and full of a citrusy punch, Grey’s lemon-pepper hen tastes like a cross between roast hen and hen piccata. Not solely is it scrumptious, however it additionally requires only one pan and comes collectively in underneath an hour, making it a great weeknight dinner. For all the apparent causes, it has since turn into one in all my household’s favourite weeknight meals. Right here’s how one can make it.

Tips on how to Make Tender, Moist Lemon-Pepper Rooster

Char your lemons. Whereas many candy and savory recipes incorporate uncooked lemon zest, juice, or slices, Grey takes a simple however intelligent strategy right here: She halves a lemon, then cooks it minimize facet down within the skillet till it’s properly browned, which supplies the dish a brilliant, caramelized word. 

Dredge your hen in flour. Coating the hen breasts in a fair layer of flour helps soak up any extra moisture and offers the poultry a dry exterior that browns evenly, and is a trick our editorial director Daniel makes use of in his fish piccata recipe. 

Sear, bake, and relaxation your hen. To maintain the hen good and juicy whereas additionally crisping up the pores and skin, sear it pores and skin side-down in a skillet. Bake it till it simply reaches 160ºF (71ºC) on an instant-read thermometer, then let it relaxation. Because the hen rests, its temperature will proceed to rise to 165ºF. This resting additionally permits the hen’s juices to evenly distribute itself all through the meat, leading to moist, tender hen.

For the creamiest sauce, scale back your wine and add your butter steadily. After you take away the hen, you’ll deglaze the pan with white wine, then scale back it by half. This cooks off the alcohol, stopping the wine from imparting the cruel taste of uncooked wine to the sauce, and likewise concentrates the wine’s sugars, which supplies the sauce physique. As soon as the wine has lowered, it’s key to include the butter slowly whereas whisking consistently to make sure that the sauce emulsifies correctly. As former Critical Eats editor Sohla has written beforehand, the “mixture of stirring, swirling the pan, and vigorous effervescent will emulsify the butter into the sauce, breaking it up into tiny droplets which are then distributed all through the liquid.” 

As fancy as that every one sounds, it is a meal that comes collectively in lower than an hour—however tastes such as you’ve been cooking all day lengthy. Merely add some rice, couscous, or potatoes and a easy vegetable facet like steamed or roasted broccoli and also you’re all set with a chaos-free night—not less than within the dinner division.

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