One of my favorite spices is rosemary, and I love to add it to everything I can. Unfortunately, though, not many people I cook for enjoy it like I do. So, I decided to try to make it more palatable for the others around my house and give it a bit of a twist.
This recipe will add a needed change in some of your repertoires, bring a beautiful citrus flavor with the almost pungent aroma of the rosemary and thyme.
Using a mortar and pestle for the garlic aliolli is the best way to do it. A large, granite one is best as you can add whole avocados and peppers to it. I regret not getting a granite mortar and pestle. You keep small grits of garlic in there which release more flavor as they cook. I really like using my mortar and pestle for spice grinding when I want to keep larger pieces of spices for pops of flavor, or to bring out natural oils in spices. Not to mention, you can make some amazing chunky jalapeno bechamel sauce in it!
I use fresh thyme in the recipe, but it isn’t needed. Just remember that if you used dried thyme, you will need to use less. Fresh herbs, compared to dried herbs, are much more voluminous. The general rule of thumb is to replace 1/3 of the dried ingredient for the fresh ingredient. So, for example, if you wanted to use dried thyme in this recipe, you should use 2 tsp. of dried thyme in replacement of the fresh.
In the recipe, it says to use 2 large lemons. You’ll want to make the sauce by reducing all the pan drippings at the end, and with sweeter lemons, the sauce becomes a tad bitter. I was using 3 very small lemons for this, so the sweetness ended up turning a bit bitter. The bitterness is probably characterized by the slight over-boiling I allowed to happen while I was trying to take photos, too.
Yields 3 Servings of Lemon & Rosemary Roasted Chicken Thighs
The Preparation
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium lemon
- 25 ounces boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
The Execution
1. You’ll need a mortar and pestle for this recipe. You CAN do this in a food processor if need be. Add your garlic to the mortar.
2. Add 2 tsp. salt to your mortar. This will act as a gentle abrasive to break down the garlic.
3. Grind your garlic and salt together until a coarse paste is formed.
4. Once your paste it formed it’s time to add the oil. Slowly drizzle it about 1 tsp. at a time while grinding everything together. When you have ground it together, add more oil.
5. Repeat the grinding process until a smooth paste is formed. This is called an aioli.
6. Get your chicken ready, trim off excess grit, but keep the fat on the thighs.
7. Dry off your chicken with some paper towels.
8. Add your chicken to a Ziploc bag, trying to not overlap the chicken too much.
9. Add your garlic aioli to the Ziploc bag, trying to spread it on the chicken as much as possible.
10. Using your hands, apply pressure to the chicken and rub the garlic aioli into the chicken as best as you can.
11. Marinate the chicken for anywhere from 2 to 10 hours.
12. Once your chicken is marinated, take it out of the fridge and preheat your oven to 425°F.
13. Slice 2 lemons up thin and create a layer of the sliced lemons on the bottom of a baking pan.
14. Put your chicken on the top of the lemons, pouring any remaining aioli from the bag on top.
15. Remove your thyme leaves from the stem. You want about 2 Tbsp. fresh thyme.
16. Sprinkle the thyme, rosemary, sage, pepper and remaining salt on top of the chicken. Rub it gently into the chicken.
17. Put your chicken into the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the juices run clear.
18. Remove the chicken from the baking pan and put it in some foil to retain heat.
19. Add all of the pan drippings to a saucepan.
20. Make sure that all of the juice is in the saucepan, you can use a spoon to gently push any excess juice out of the lemons.
21. Bring your sauce to a boil, while stirring continuously.
22. Once the sauce is at a boil, turn the heat to medium-low (or low, depending on your stove) while continuously mixing it.
23. Let the sauce reduce until it’s a bit thick. Spoon this over your chicken and serve!
This makes a total of 3 servings of Lemon & Rosemary Roasted Chicken Thighs. Each serving comes out to be 483 calories, 34.9g fats, 5g net carbs, and 41.1g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 1 tablespoon fresh garlic | 13 | 0 | 2.8 | 0.2 | 2.6 | 0.5 |
| 3 teaspoon salt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 tablespoon olive oil | 358 | 40.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 medium lemon | 49 | 0.5 | 15.7 | 4.7 | 11 | 1.9 |
| 25 ounce boneless, skinless chicken thighs | 1013 | 63.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 120.2 |
| 2 tablespoon fresh thyme | 5 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| 1 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary | 6 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| 1 1/2 teaspoon dried sage | 3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| 1/2 teaspoon black pepper | 3 | 0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| Totals | 1449 | 104.8 | 22 | 7 | 15.1 | 123.2 |
| Per Serving (/3) | 483 | 34.9 | 7.3 | 2.3 | 5 | 41.1 |
Lemon & Rosemary Roasted Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic minced
- 3 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 medium lemon
- 25 ounce boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1 ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 ½ teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- You’ll need a mortar and pestle for this recipe. You CAN do this in a food processor, if need be. Add your garlic to the mortar.
- Add 2/3 of the salt to your mortar. This will act as a gentle abrasive to break down the garlic.
- Grind the garlic and salt together until a coarse paste is formed.
- Once the paste is formed, it’s time to add the oil. Slowly drizzle it about 1 tsp. at a time, while grinding everything together. When you have ground it together, add more oil.
- Repeat the grinding process until a smooth paste is formed. This is called an aioli.
- Prepare the chicken; trim off excess grit, but keep the fat on the thighs.
- Dry off chicken with some paper towels.
- Add the chicken to a Ziploc bag, trying to not overlap the chicken too much.
- Add the garlic aioli to the Ziploc bag, trying to spread it on the chicken as much as possible. Seal the bag then, using your hands, apply pressure to the chicken and rub the garlic aioli into the chicken as best as you can. It helps to massage the chicken and move the pieces around as you do.
- Marinate the chicken for anywhere from 2 to 10 hours. Once chicken is marinated, remove from fridge. Preheat oven to 425F.
- Slice the lemons up thin and create a layer of the sliced lemons on the bottom of a baking pan.
- Put the chicken on the top of the lemons, pouring any remaining aioli from the bag on top.
- Remove the thyme leaves from the stem. Sprinkle the thyme, rosemary, sage, pepper and remaining salt on top of the chicken. Rub it gently into the chicken.
- Bake the chicken for 25-30 minutes, or until the juices run clear. When done, remove chicken from the baking pan and wrap it in some foil to retain heat.
- Add all of the pan drippings to a sauce pan. You can use a spoon to gently push any excess juice out of the lemons, to ensure you get all the liquid out of the baking pan.
- Bring pan dripping sauce to a boil, while stirring continuously. Once the sauce is at a boil, turn the head to medium-low (or low, depending on your stove) while continuously stirring it.
- Let the sauce reduce until it’s a bit thick. Spoon this over the chicken and serve!
