Skillet Roasted Chicken in Lemon Sauce

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! This is one of the best and easiest chicken dinners to make. The skin is super crispy and the sauce is just amazing! Dr. Sweetpea couldn't stop raving about this meal while he was eating it. Also, both of us loved the lemon sauce so much that we used our baguette bread pieces to sop up all the sauce from our plates. Yes, it's that. good. I served the chicken with some mushroom risotto and it was the perfect pairing. This will definitely be in our regular meal rotation.

Skillet Roasted Chicken in Lemon Sauce

(Source: America's Test Kitchen)

1/2 cup salt

3 pounds bone-in chicken pieces (I used just chicken thighs)

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large shallot, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

4 teaspoons all-purpose flour

1 cup chicken broth

4 teaspoons grated lemon zest plus 1/4 cup juice (2 lemons)

1 tablespoon fresh parsley leaves

1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves

Dissolve salt in 2 quarts cold water in large container. Submerge chicken in brine, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels.

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Heat oil in ovensafe 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Place chicken skin side down in skillet and cook until skin is well browned and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Flip thighs and continue to cook until browned on second side, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Transfer thighs to plate. 

Pour off and discard fat in skillet. Return skillet to medium heat; add butter, shallot, and garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Sprinkle flour evenly over shallot-garlic mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until flour is lightly browned, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in broth and lemon juice, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to simmer. Cook until sauce is slightly reduced and thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon zest and remove skillet from heat. Return chicken, skin side up (skin should be above surface of liquid), and any accumulated juices to skillet and transfer to oven. Cook, uncovered, until thighs register 175 degrees, 10 to 12 minutes.

While chicken cooks, chop parsley, oregano, and remaining 1 teaspoon zest together until finely minced and well combined. Remove skillet from oven and let chicken stand for 5 minutes.

Transfer chicken to serving platter. Whisk sauce, incorporating any browned bits from sides of pan, until smooth and homogeneous, about 30 seconds. Whisk half of herb-zest mixture into sauce and sprinkle remaining half over chicken. Pour some sauce around chicken. Serve, passing remaining sauce separately.