Bill Granger's Lemon Chicken

This was going to be tough. Do I make Bills lemon pound cake or his lemon chicken? There were no alternatives. Bill Granger would have to be one of my favourite chefs, his recipes and cookbooks are so user friendly and everything he does tastes amazing. I decided to make his Lemon Chicken because I do SO much baking and wanted to mix it up a little.  

I invited Girlfriday around for dinner as she had only just returned from Vietnam and I hadn't seen her since Christmas Day. She brought us some lovely gifts too, one of which I have included a picture of. It is a gorgeous red hand woven bowl with a lid: perfect for my lemons :)

Bill Granger's Lemon Chicken (Every Day Cookbook)

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbs plain flour

1 tsp Chinese five-spice

sea salt

freshly ground pepper

4 X 180g boneless chicken breasts with skin

vegetable oil

1 lemon, cut into wedges

3cm (1 Inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips

4 tbs honey

2 tbs Chinese rice wine

80ml lemon juice

2 tbs light soy sauce

80ml chicken stock

2 tbs brown sugar

2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch), mixed with a little cold water

Method

Preheat the oven to 180’C (350’F/Gas 4). Mix the flour, five-spice, salt and pepper on a large plate.Dust the chicken in the spiced flour.

Heat enough oil for shallow frying in a large wok over medium-high heat. Fry the chicken breasts for 2-3 minutes, or until the skin is crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper, then put the chicken on a baking tray and bake for 6 minutes, or until just cooked through.

Meanwhile, drain all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the wok and return to high heat. Add the lemon wedges and ginger and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the honey, rice wine and lemon juice and cook for 1 minute, then add the soy sauce , chicken stock and sugar and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the cornflour mixture and simmer for 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat.

To serve, cut each chicken breast into 5 or 6 pieces and spoon some sauce over the top.

The recipe turned out perfectly and I have Bill to thank for that. It was full of flavour and Pete and Girlfriday loved it. The sauce was nice and syrupy and super tasty, I could have eaten it a spoon on its own. I found that cooking the chicken this way was great because the meat stayed moist and didn’t dry out. 

I have also decided to add a few new elements to my Cookbook Challenge posts each week from here on in. Here they are, I hope you find them helpful.

Difficulty Scale ( 1-5): 3

Best thing about this recipe: I discovered a new way to cook my chicken and keep it moist.

Worst thing about this recipe: Nothing!

Would I make it again: Yes

Love factor (1-5): xoxo

I hope you have enjoyed this post. Please leave a comment and share your favourite citrus recipe.