Lemon Rosemary Chicken

I had big plans the week to cook some elaborate dinners before the holidays. But then life got in the way with jury duty mixed in with an unexpected loss. Those plans for the elaborate coq au vin on Sunday? Not happening. That night instead turned into bagel and lox (luckily we just returned from Canada with Montreal bagels). I needed to do something for dinner on Monday though and this seemed simple enough.

Over the past two years, we've rarely eaten chicken because as an adult it hasn't been my favourite meat and our meat CSA rarely gave us chicken. But now our CSA is changing their system, so it's harder to add extra meats to our standard box, so I'm starting to find myself picking up chicken again on those weeks when the butcher doesn't have pork cheeks to tempt me. This dish isn't really about the chicken (although we had some excellent chicken oysters and skin last night!), but the sauce is so rich for such a short period of time. The mix of sweet currants and salty olives with rich rosemary flavor is perfect. The original calls for chicken thighs, but I was saving those to give the coq au vin a later shot, so I went with breast with good results.

Lemon Rosemary Chicken (from The Herbal Kitchen)

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1" chunks
kosher salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium red onion, cut in half and sliced from root to top
1 1/2 tbsp coarsely chopped rosemary
1/2 cup chicken broth
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/3 cup dried currants
1/3 cup chopped pitted green olives
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in large skillet over high heat. Add chicken and sear 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to a warm platter.
2. Adjust heat to medium-low. Add onion and rosemary to the skillet and cook until limp, 3 minutes.
3. Pour in the chicken broth and stir to deglaze.
4. Stir in lemon zest, currants, olives, 1/2 tsp salt, pepper, and browned chicken. Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.
5. Uncover and increase heat to high. Stir in lemon juice and cook until sauce reduces to coat meat with a glaze, 2 - 3 minutes. Serve.