Very Lemony Chicken ~ Rao's Famous

If you like lemon, I believe you will love this recipe as much as I do.

The recipe is from "Rao's Cookbook; Over 100 years of Italian Home Cooking". Although I've had this cookbook for a few years, I admit I haven't cooked from it much. However, this is one of the recipes I have made a number of times.

If you are not familiar with Rao's original restaurant in New York City, and now also in Las Vegas, you may like to visit their website:

Rao's Restaurants and Specialty Foods (click)

Don't let the long broiling time put you off; I move the oven rack down so the chicken is about 5 or 6-inches from the broiler element to allow for longer, slower broiling without burning. That deep brown skin is what adds another level of flavor to this dish.

Rao's recipe calls for chicken halves, but I usually just choose breast halves and thighs when I make this.

The procedure is simple for such flavorful results; first you broil the chicken slowly, then cut the chicken into smaller pieces and toss in the lemon sauce then broil for a few more minutes while you reduce the remaining lemon sauce a bit, to be served at the table.

With a fresh harvest of Meyer Lemons from my potted trees, I knew just how to use a number of them. I used half Meyer and half tart lemons for a bit of a change.

Also, I reduced the recipe by half, so I only needed a cup of lemon juice, not two cups. I use dried oregano as the recipe calls for, and I always add some fresh oregano from the herb garden as well, it intensifies the scent of the dish very nicely.

Rao's Famous Lemon Chicken

Pollo al Limone

Two 2 and 1/2 - 3 lb. broiling chickens, halved

1/4 C. chopped Italian parsley

Lemon Sauce:

2 C. fresh lemon juice

1 C. olive oil

1 T. red wine vinegar

1 and 1/2 t. minced garlic

1/2 t. dried oregano

salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions:

To attain maximum heat, preheat broiler for at least 15 minutes before using.

Broil chicken halves, turning once, for about 30 minutes or until skin is golden-brown and juices run clear when bird is pierced with a fork.

Remove chicken from broiler, leaving broiler on.

Using a very sharp knife, cut each half into about 6 pieces (leg, thigh, wing, 3 small breast pieces).

Place chicken on a baking sheet with sides, of a size that can fit into the broiler.

Pour Lemon Sauce over the chicken and toss to coat well.

If necessary, divide sauce in half and do this in two batches.

Return to broiler and broil for 3 minutes.

Turn each piece and broil for an additional minute.

Remove from broiler and portion each chicken onto each of 6 warm serving plates.

In the meantime, pour sauce into a heavy saucepan.

Stir in parsley and place over high heat for 1 minute.

Pour an equal amount of sauce over each chicken and serve with lots of crusty bread to absorb the sauce.

LEMON SAUCE:

Whisk together juice, oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, and salt and pepper.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Whisk or shake vigorously before using.

This time I served it family-style rather than plating individually; I served it with stir-fried Broccoli, garlic and pinenuts and some cous cous.

Thank you Carol for reminding me about making this again!

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As I promised, I'll post a little about the dishes that I us in the photos as some readers have asked me to do.

These are from Varages; the others with the same pattern that I featured the other day have green rims; as you can see these are blue and white.

I don't have complete place settings; just the dinner and salad/dessert plates, but these mix easily with my other blue and whites.

And the large serving bowl as shown in the photos; I get a lot of use out of this size.

I understand this pattern is discontinued now, I had never seen them except on the secondary market.

I found these a few years ago, brand new, on ebay. I suspect they originally were from TJMaxx, Ross, or Homegoods.