Best 7 French Lemon Chicken Recipes

FRENCH ROAST CHICKEN WITH LEMON

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 385F. Put your roasting pan into the oven.
• Order is important. Put the thyme and rosemary into the cavity, followed by the 1/2 lemon and finally the 1/2 onion. Tie the legs together with butcher's twine (look closely in the picture). Rub the chicken with olive oil and then season generously with salt and pepper.
• Place the chicken in the hot pan - it should sizzle - and put it in the oven for 5 minutes. This will prevent the bird from sticking. Remove the pan from the oven and pour 1/2 cup white wine around the chicken. It should sizzle again.
• Return to oven and roast until you hit an internal temperature of 165F in the breast, 175F in the thigh - 45 to 55 minutes. Baste the bird at around the 25 minute mark - just spoon some fat out of the pan and over the bird.
• When you hit temp, pull the chicken from the oven and then transfer it to a cutting board.
• Spoon off all but about 1-2 Tbsp of fat from the pan, taking care only to remove clear fat. Anything liquid with colour is flavour. You want that. You also want all those wonderful brown bits in the bottom of the pan. That's called fond and it's about the best thing you can put into a sauce.
• Heat the pan over medium heat. When it starts to sizzle, add the remaining 1/2 cup of wine. Boil it down, scraping constantly to dissolve the fond, until it's a wonderful sticky glaze. Add the chicken stock and concentrated chicken stock (this puts it over the top) and reduce by about half.
• Once the chicken has rested around 15 minutes carve into quarters (whole legs plus a boneless chicken breast picking up the wing). If this doesn't make sense, google "chicken supreme" images. Same thing except keep the whole wing. Pour any accumulated juices back into your sauce (more flavour), re-heat the sauce if necessary and serve.

CHICKEN FRANCESE

Steps:

• Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them. Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4-inch thick. Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, beat the eggs with 3 tablespoons of water to make an egg wash. Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet.
• Dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 2 minutes on each side until golden, turning once. Remove the chicken cutlets to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm.
• Toss the lemon slices into the pan and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the wine, broth, and lemon juice, simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the sauce slightly. Roll the butter in some flour and add it to the skillet, this will thicken the sauce. Stir to incorporate and dissolve the flour. Reduce the heat to medium-low and return the chicken to the pan; place the lemon slices on top of the cutlets. Simmer gently for 2 minutes to heat the chicken through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

LEMON CHICKEN BREASTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don't allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 by 12-inch baking dish.
• Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.
• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn't browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices.

CHICKEN FRANCESE

Steps:

• In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper until blended. Place the flour in a separate bowl. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
• In a wide skillet, heat olive and vegetable oils over medium heat until shimmering.
• Working in batches to avoid crowding the pan, lightly dredge the chicken in flour and shake off any excess. Dip into egg batter, let excess batter drip back into the bowl and place in the skillet. Fry, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Adjust the heat as the cutlets cook so they brown slowly and evenly, with a steady bubbling. Transfer to the paper-towel-lined pan and repeat with remaining cutlets.
• When all cutlets are browned, remove the pan from the heat and pour off the oil. Wipe out the pan with paper towels. Return the pan to low heat.
• If making the lemon slices (if not, skip to Step 6 below): Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter and then scatter the lemon slices over the bottom of the pan. Cook, stirring gently occasionally, until the lemon slices are golden and browning around the edges, about 3 minutes. Scoop out the lemon slices and set them aside.
• Add 3 tablespoons of butter, the wine and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Boil until the liquid is syrupy, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour in the stock, bring to a boil and cook until thickened into a sauce, about 5 minutes. (It will thicken more when you add the cutlets.) Taste and adjust the seasonings with lemon, salt and pepper; it should be quite lemony and not too salty.
• Reduce the heat, tuck the cutlets into the pan and simmer very gently until the sauce is velvety and the chicken pieces are heated through, about 4 minutes. Turn the cutlets over occasionally in the sauce. Place the browned lemon slices on top. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve, spooning some of the sauce over each serving.

FRENCH LEMON CHICKEN

Steps:

• Grate enough peel from lemon to make 1 tbsp (15 mL). Remove any remaining peel and white pith from lemon and cut flesh into thin slices.
• Separate garlic into cloves, cut off root ends but do not peel. Add to chicken stock in a pot and bring to boil. Simmer three minutes. Strain stock and reserve. Peel garlic cloves. If garlic cloves are large, cut in half lengthways.
• Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).
• Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Season breasts with salt, pepper and thyme, and fry skin-side-down four to five minutes or until golden brown. Turn over and fry second side for one minute. Remove breasts.
• Place skin-side-up in oiled ovenproof dish that fits chicken snugly. Discard fat from skillet.
• Scatter lemon slices and garlic cloves around chicken. Sprinkle sugar on lemon slices.
• Meanwhile, add wine to skillet, bring to boil, reduce by half.
• Stir in stock, brandy and grated zest and bring to a boil, stirring.
• Add cream and continue to boil until slightly thickened, about five to eight minutes.
• Stir in parsley.
• Bake chicken for 15 to 20 minutes or until it is tender but not dry. Remove chicken and any lemon bits to serving platter. Scatter over garlic cloves. Remove any fat and pour any juices into sauce.
• To serve, pour sauce over chicken.

RETRO FRENCH CHICKEN (BAKED LEMON GARLIC BREASTS)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Set out a large 12-14 inch cast iron skillet or an 9X13 inch baking dish. Pour the melted butter in the pan and swirl around.
• In a large zip bag, combine the flour, salt, paprika, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Mix well. Then add the chicken breasts and toss to coat.
• Place the coated chicken in the buttered dish, top side down, and place in the oven for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice, water, scallions, thyme, garlic, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Stir well.
• Once the timer goes off, flip the chicken over and pour the lemon garlic sauce over the top. Place back in the oven for 10 minutes.
• Once the chicken has cooked through, remove from the oven and serve warm with extra pan sauce.

FRENCH LAUNDRY'S LEMON BRINED FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a very large pot, combine 1 quart of the water with 1 cup of the salt and the honey, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme and parsley. Add the lemon zest and juice and the lemon halves and bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring until the salt is dissolved. Let cool completely, then stir in the remaining 3 quarts of cold water. Add the chickens, being sure they're completely submerged, and refrigerate overnight.
• Drain the chickens and pat dry. Scrape off any herbs or peppercorns stuck to the skin and cut each bird into 8 pieces, keeping the breast meat on the bone.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne and the remaining 2 teaspoons of salt. Put the buttermilk in a large, shallow bowl. Working with a few pieces at a time, dip the chicken in the buttermilk, then dredge in the flour mixture, pressing so it adheres all over. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet lined with wax paper.
• In a very large, deep skillet, heat 1 inch of vegetable oil to 330°. Fry the chicken in 2 or 3 batches over moderate heat, turning once, until golden and crunchy and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of each piece registers 160°, about 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to paper towels to drain, and keep warm in a low oven while you fry the remaining chicken pieces.
• Transfer the fried chicken to a platter, garnish with the herb sprigs and serve hot or at room temperature.