This recipe is from the Wall Street Journal (May 31st, 2018) and chef Katianna Hong. The lemon and thyme combination takes center stage as the chicken and croutons are bathed in a marinade made by blending copious amounts of lemon juice and fresh thyme along with shallots. It’s quick, too, as long as you don’t have to send your husband scrambling to the store for missing ingredients, as I did! Apologies in advance for the lack of good photos! I didn’t plan ahead to blog this one, but decided to go ahead and post it after several people asked for the recipe! 🙂
I would make two edits/clarifications to the recipe next time I make it: 1. Make sure the croutons are not under the chicken, as this will make them soggy. The ones nestled around the chicken were perfect. I reflected this change below. 2. Consider making the marinade paste thinner with either more olive oil, or perhaps a splash of a nice dry white wine. The original recipe implies that it is supposed to be very liquid, so perhaps there was simply a transcription error in the WSJ? It was certainly delicious, but the finished product could have an even better texture if the marinade were thinner. You don’t want too much liquid as you want the croutons to dry out while roasting, but a little more certainly won’t hurt. I’d aim for adding another 1/4-1/2 cup of liquid in the marinade.
Lemon Thyme Chicken and Bread Roast
Total time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4
- 6 Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (I’d be more inclined to go boneless)
- Salt
- 1 1/2 lemons, zested and juiced (zest before juicing to save yourself frustration!) PLUS 1/2 lemon cut into thin rounds
- 1/4 cup olive oil (or more–see notes above recipe)
- 3 whole shallots, roughly chopped
- Leaves from 20 sprigs of thyme, plus 8 sprigs for garnish while baking. (but who’s counting?)
- 3 Tbs butter
- 6 cups crusty bread, diced
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 6 garlic cloves, skin on (yes, that means no awkward garlic peeling attempts)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees and generously season chicken with salt.
Blend lemon zest, juice, olive oil, shallots, and thyme leaves until smooth.
Toss chicken in the blended marinade, and let sit 15 minutes to 24 hours. (obviously refrigerate if leaving more than 15 or so minutes)
Arrange chicken in buttered cast iron skillet or baking dish, and nestle bread around chicken. Pour chicken stock over bread, and top off with remaining marinade. Make sure chicken is well-soaked. Tuck the whole garlic, lemon rounds, and thyme sprigs hither and thither around the chicken.
Roast about 25 minutes (I think mine took longer?), until bread is crisped and chicken is nicely browned and internal temp is 165 degrees. WSJ recommends loosening bread with spatula and then serving straight from pan.
Open a bottle of French rosé, toss a light green salad with a swish of olive oil, dash of vinegar, and teaspoon of mustard, and Bon appétit!