A lot of folks have asked me for this recipe. It’s one of The Angry Chef’s signature dishes, and I was lucky to pry it away from him.

This recipe is a dream come true for garlic lovers like me. It’s tart and garlick-y and oh-so-fragrant in all the right ways. (As a bonus, you’ll surely be safe from vampires for the evening.)

The instructions below are one part recipe, one part technique.

Basically, the chicken breast is dredged in flour, then shallow fried in a bath of bubbling golden olive oil. It develops a rich brown, garlicky crust and layers of flavor from being flipped and seasoned a handful of times.

Lemon juice, powdered peel, and fresh zest provide a triple dose of bright citrus flavor right near the end of cooking. The chicken meat itself is moist and tender and infused with lemon-y garlic flavor.

Enjoy this chicken with any sort of hot, spicy rice (I have yet to get the recipe for the Demon Saffron Rice that he made around Halloween), some warm, buttered noodles, or grilled asparagus sprinkled with Parmesan. Leftovers make killer toasted subs with oodles of melted cheese.

The Angry Chef’s Garlicky Lemon-Pepper Chicken: A note on ingredients

This recipe calls for three different types of garlic—garlic salt, fresh elephant garlic, and jarred minced garlic.

You’ll also want to use pure olive oil instead of extra virgin, because it has a higher smoke point (making it better for frying).

The Angry Chef’s Garlicky Lemon-Pepper Chicken

6 chicken breasts (about 4 1/2 lbs)
2 cups flour
1 lemon, juice and peel
1 clove elephant garlic
3 1/2 Tbls. prepared minced garlic
pure olive oil
onion powder
garlic salt
white pepper
black pepper
dried oregano
dried parsley
powdered lemon peel

Serves 6-8 as a main course.

The Angry Chef’s Garlicky Lemon-Pepper Chicken: Prep your ingredients

Slice each chicken breast in half lengthwise.

Peel the elephant garlic and cut it into a coarse dice.

Next, zest your lemon then cut it in half.

Put the flour in a gallon-sized zip-top bag.

Grab your chicken.

Drop it into the bag with the flour.

Seal the bag well. Shake it around to coat the chicken well with flour. It should look about like this:

Take each piece of chicken out of the bag. Shake off any excess flour. Lay the chicken out on a board or plate and set it aside for a minute.

The Angry Chef’s Garlicky Lemon-Pepper Chicken: Start to fry the chicken

Pour about 1/4 inch of olive oil into a large, non-stick pan. How much oil you use will depend on the size of your pan.

Heat the oil for a minute or two over medium-high heat.

Add the jarred, minced garlic to the oil.

Sprinkle in the fresh, diced elephant garlic.

Give the garlic and oil a stir. Cook for a minute or two over medium-high heat to infuse the oil with garlicky goodness.

When the oil starts to bubble, carefully put each piece of chicken in the pan. Your pan will be crowded. In this case, that’s just fine.

Cook over medium-high heat until the oil starts to bubble again.

When it starts to bubble, season it by coating the top of the chicken with a thin layer of onion powder, garlic salt, white pepper, black pepper, dried oregano, and dried parsley.

It should look about like this.

Cook for 3-4 minutes over medium-high heat.

As it cooks, push the chicken around a little to let the oil flow in between the pieces of chicken.

The Angry Chef’s Garlicky Lemon-Pepper Chicken: Flip #1

After 3-4 minutes, flip each piece of chicken over. Pieces of golden brown garlic should be stuck to the bottom. That’s the start of your chicken’s garlicky crust.

Reseason the top of the chicken with a thin layer of onion powder, garlic salt, white pepper, black pepper, dried oregano, and dried parsley.

Cook for another 3-4 minutes.

The Angry Chef’s Garlicky Lemon-Pepper Chicken: Flip #2

After about 3-4 minutes, flip each piece of chicken over again.

Reseason the top of the chicken with a thin layer of onion powder, garlic salt, white pepper, black pepper, dried oregano, and dried parsley.

After you’ve done that, sprinkle on a layer of powdered lemon peel.

Then sprinkle with the fresh lemon zest.

Squeeze one of the lemon halves over the pan, getting a little juice and lemon pulp on each piece of chicken. Cook over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes.

The Angry Chef’s Garlicky Lemon-Pepper Chicken: Flip #3 (a.k.a. the final flipping)

After 3-4 minutes, flip the chicken one last time. At this point, it should have a handsome brown crust on the bottom.

Sprinkle with dried parsley. Squeeze the other half of the lemon over the chicken, getting a little on each piece.

Let it cook for 8-10 minutes more. After that time, your chicken should have a good brown crust and be cooked completely though (cut and peek to be sure, if you like).

Remove the chicken from the oil and heap on a platter. Serve and enjoy!

***
Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse™/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

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