Greek Chicken Thighs

It’s no secret that I love chicken thighs, and these Greek chicken thighs are a one-pot wonder with all kinds of possibilities for add-ins. This cold weather makes me long for warm weather, and the flavors of Greece bring back fond memories of travelling there. When I think of those flavors  I think of tomato sauce with a hint of cinnamon (I just looked for a recipe here, and to my amazement there isn’t one— I must remedy that soon. ) and lemon, olives and thyme, all of which I happened to have hanging around.

I do enjoy a broad range of flavors, but like most people, I gravitate to the familiar. Recently I’ve been using Meyer lemons, which are in season. I’ve made lemon curd and two lemon cakes, and had some lemon juice and lemons left, so those seemed like a good start for my Greek chicken thighs. Lemon adds brightness to everything, and as I sit here and smell the aromas of the chicken cocking I am transported to warm breezes, and stark white stucco against brilliant blue skies.

When I was in my thirties I had a chance to travel through Greece, and though before I went many people warned me that Greek food was terrible I loved it. If you haven’t been there, Greece is a wonderful place to visit. I was there for a month and went from island to island, each one beautiful and a little different. Almost everyone I encountered spoke English and I met people from all over the world. I met up with some friends and we went to a small island call Tinos. The entire island was small enough to circumvent on foot in about two hours, the terrain was rocky and there was a big church at the top of a big hill we walked to every day. We also found a small restaurant where we had dinner each night.

The place was run by a couple, and their only employee was a dishwasher. The place seated about twelve people, and the kitchen was as small as the kitchen in my Brooklyn apartment. Each evening we’d go into the kitchen and the wife would open the lids on all the pots for us to see and smell what was cooking, and we would choose what we liked. Our next stop was Santorini a much bigger island, and filled with tourists, but we found a restaurant with no walls, and an open kitchen, that looked out over the village, and down to the blue sea. Almost everywhere we went looked like a postcard. On our second visit the owner recognized us, and though she didn’t take us into the kitchen we never ate from the menu, and our last night there she made us a special meal, including dessert.

 A few times this winter I’ve made a chicken and rice dish by putting raw rice into a baking dish, topping it with stock and some type of seasoned chicken and baking it until the rice is cooked. Chicken thighs are perfect for this as they have enough juice and fat to infuse the rice with loads of flavor. These chicken bakes are great because they are great when re-heated, say for lunch during the week. I used eight thighs, so I ran out of room, but this would be great with some mushrooms or spinach added to the mixture.

Greek Chicken Thighs

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Serves	4-6
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	1 hour
Total time	1 hour, 15 minutes
Meal type	Main Dish

Ingredients

• 6 chicken thighs (skin on-bone in)
• 2 cups rice
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best)
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 4oz greek olives (rough chopped)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• olive oil (to brush on baking dish)
• 1 Meyer Lemon (sliced thin)

Directions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350F Use a 9x15" oven safe baking dish, and brush with oil Put rice into pan, top with olives and herbs

Step 2

Lay chicken on top of rice, then pour liquid into pan Top chicken with lemon slices If there is too much liquid to fit in pan, set aside, and add after 30 minutes of cooking

Step 3

Bake uncovered for 45-55 minutes, until chicken is brown on top, rice has absorbed most of the liquid (more will be absorbed as it cools) and the rice is fully cooked