it has become tradition that anytime i go home to memphis, i have to make at minimum one meal for my family. my birthday weekend was no exception. don’t tell them, but i love nothing more.

my grandfather is a mac/cheese lunatic so that is a menu staple. this last go round i added delicious skillet chicken that i wanted to just sit around and smell in the oven and then devour and then smile about for a few satiated minutes. wait, i did do that. you can too with this recipe.

• 8 chicken thighs (so much more flavor than breasts)
• 3-4 lemons (1-2 for juicing, 1-2 for roasting)
• several cloves of garlic to taste
• fresh rosemary
• butter
• salt/pepper to taste

1. clean chicken thighs thoroughly and pat dry, then rub small pats of butter under the skin of each thigh
2. rough chop a few sprigs of rosemary along with 2-3 cloves of garlic and add to skillet
3. salt and pepper each thigh and lay skin-down in skillet
4. distribute whole garlic cloves between chicken thighs
5. cover chicken with juice of two whole lemons and cook for 10 minutes each side on stovetop
6. once chicken is cooked halfway, distribute additional lemon pieces and more rosemary throughout skillet
7. cook in oven for about 30-40 minutes, turning every so often to ensure chicken is fully cooked

i served this with a whole slew of sides but next time i am making a pot of fluffy white rice and letting that juice go to town.

let me know how you’d pair it!