Stove Top Lemon Chicken Thighs

A few years ago I came across a delicious lemon chicken recipe.  I started making it regularly and have enjoyed it even on my current diet (that's right, I don't count lemon as a fruit since it isn't sweet).  Well, I went to the grocery store today and there were some thighs on manager's clearance and I thought, 'lemon chicken would be really good today.'  But then I remembered that my oven was broken.  That's right.  My oven is broken.  How could this have happened to me!  The last time I turned it on to preheat to 450 degrees I heard a loud clunk and 45 minutes later I could still touch the pan and rack I had put in there.  Lame!  But I count myself lucky since I was only cooking zucchini chips so it's not like it ruined any food.

And, luckily, my stove top is not broken or I would be making a lot of salads and crock pot recipes.  My oven broke on Jan 9 but then it was a weekend and I left the following Monday for a vacation so it won't be looked at until Jan 20.  I was okay with that until I got a hankerin' for lemon chicken, which takes 50 minutes in the oven at 425.  Argh.  Then I thought, 'hey!  maybe I can figure out how to cook it on the stove top!'  So I bought all the necessary ingredients (in my case only the chicken and lemon since I have all the spices at home) and got right onto the Internet when I got home from the grocery store.  It turns out that people have been doing this for years!  I just didn't ever have a recipe or an occasion to do it.   

Today I used boneless, skinless thighs.  I usually use bone-in, skin on thighs but they weren't the ones on sale.  These thighs marinate for two hours so I made the marinade this morning after breakfast.  I dumped some olive oil in the pan and let it heat on medium (that's a six in my house).  When the oil was heated I threw in the chicken.  I was a little impatient.  Most recipes say you have to leave it alone for 15 minutes but I only lasted 10.  

When I turned them over they looked delicious.  Perfectly golden and crispy in some places.  Unfortunately, they needed about 30 minutes more cooking so the end result was a little charred.  I ended up turning them about every 7 minutes.    

Now my chicken may look a little charred to you but I actually enjoyed it.  It didn't taste burnt and I am partial to the crispy parts.  It is also nice to know that I can cook chicken pieces that I regularly bake in the oven on the stove top.  It just never occurred to me even though I've cooked chicken breasts and chicken stir fry on the stove top.  You learn something new every day, I guess.  I'm not an expert at the method but I can't be an expert every time I try something new.    

For those interested in my interpretation of this recipe here it is.  I have been making it for years.  I always make a half recipe using 1-2 pounds of chicken.  I need an entire lemon for the recipe...I stopped measuring and just zest the lemon and then juice it.  I use two cloves of garlic because I love garlic.  I use dry spices and I have never brushed butter on the chicken pieces and I only occasionally baste the chicken halfway through (this depends on how much marinade is left which is dependent on how much lemon juice you use).