Day 173: Lemon Herb Chicken Bake

Yesterday was a busy day!  We spent several hours in the garden catching up on all the weeding, then I got to go see Shrek 4 with my hubby.  What a great movie!  I laughed through the whole thing.  After that there were 2 baseball games and I had to finish preparing for the 5K race I'm in charge of on Saturday.  In between all that I had to cook dinner.  Luckily, I found a simple dish that looked delicious.  I found this recipe here.

Lemon Herb Chicken Bake
10" dutch oven

4-6 chicken breast thawed and trimmed
5-6 med red potatoes - cut into chunks
1 C peas (frozen)

In a sauce pan combine the following and let simmer for 3-5 minutes

1/4 C. Butter
3 TB Lemon juice
3 TB Minced dried onion
1 TB Rosemary blend spice (I used rosemary, thyme and a little sage)
3/4 tsp garlic salt
Heaping 1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
1 tsp. Sugar
2/3 Cup 1/2&1/2 (I used whipping cream)

Sprinkle on right before baking

1/2 C fresh Parmesan cheese

Place chicken in your dutch oven, cover with red potatoes and peas and pour sauce over the chicken and vegetables and sprinkle cheese on top.

Bake at 400° for 40 minutes to 1 hour until bubbly and potatoes are browning.  Use 1 1/2 rings on top and 1 ring on the bottom.

The Finished Product

The Review

This was fabulous!  It was also easy.  I had the whole thing put together in about 15 minutes.  My oldest son ate 4 helpings and still wanted more.  Its a good thing I doubled the recipe.  It has a very subtle lemon flavor and is just delicious.  I baked mine for 45 minutes and it wasn't quite long enough.  Everything was cooked, but not as tender as I would have liked.  Next time I'll reduce the heat a little and cook it for at least an hour.  I think I will also thicken the sauce with some roux.  It was pretty thin by the time the chicken juices were released during cooking.  I will definitely be making this again, in fact most of my family wants it for dinner again tonight.  Grade A.