Greek Lemon Chicken

Oven roasted Greek lemon chicken thighs.

This dish first came into my life when we lived in Aldine, near Houston, Texas. Our next door neighbors were Greek. Or, rather, the mom was Greek, born and raised on a small island in the Mediterranean sea. She did not speak English, and she was one of the best cooks I have ever met, before or since.

The dad was of 100% Greek descent, and--without any negative intent or disrespect intended--he was also an all-American redneck. He hated immigrants, people who did not speak English, “colored” people, liberated women, and liberal politics in general. He owned guns in that very special way that some Texans own guns. Nonetheless, when he came of marriageable age, he followed the family tradition of traveling “back” to Greece to court and marry a “spinster,” a woman who had--for whatever reason--failed to marry before her 25^th birthday.


Mr. M told me that spinsters made better wives because they were more grateful and appreciative of a man's attentions, “as it should be.” I did not argue with Mr. M. He was, after all, an adult (and I had be raised not to argue with adults who were not related to me), but even at the age of 11, I thought he was being silly. His daughter was a brilliant student, whom he was encouraging to go to college. And Mrs. M. was anything but submissive and "grateful" for her lot in life. She was, in fact, a lot like my own mother. She might be the one who stayed home all day and raised the children, but she was boss. She made the household decisions, managed the money, orchestrated family events, and decided what was what. She was not passive. She took no nonsense from anyone, including her husband. 

They had a daughter (who was a year older than me and one of my best friends) and two younger sons. I made a routine of going over to their house on Saturdays, late in the afternoon, in order to secure an invitation to join the family for dinner. (Fortunately, my mom didn't mind usually, though occasionally she made me stay home so as not to "wear out" my welcome, as she put it.)

Mrs. M could cook! She made her own breads, her own yogurt, sweet honey-ladened treats, and she always kept fresh herbs on hand. I loved her seafood dishes, especially the stuff squid, the lamb-rice meatballs, and the garlicky scampi. Mrs. M's lemon chicken was a house standard. She served it hot in the winter with noodles sprinkled with fresh herbs and crumbled feta. She also served lemon chicken cold in the worst humid heat of a Texan summer, with cold salads on the side that were so studded with surprises that eating felt--at least to this impressionable kid--like a treasure hunt.

Thanks, Mrs. M, wherever you are, for introducing me to Greek food!

Greek Lemon Chicken

• 1 roasting chicken, cut into serving pieces, or the equivalent in chicken parts (I used 4 lbs. of chicken thighs for this demonstration)
• salt and pepper
• 3 or 4 springs of fresh oregano
• 8 or so springs of fresh thyme
• 2 lemons
• approximately ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper the chicken pieces and place them in a bowl or container for marinading. Remove the leaves from the oregano springs and sprinkle them over the chicken pieces. Tuck the thyme leaves on top and around the chicken.

Juice the 2 lemons, pour the juice over the chicken, and tuck the squeezed lemon halves into the bowl as well. Drizzle everything with extra virgin oil oil. Allow the chicken to sit in the marinade for several hours or over night.

Chicken pieces in the herb-lemon-olive oil marinade.

Bake on a rack (I use a cookie sheet covered with foil topped with a cookie cooling rack. This allows the chicken to roast without sitting in its own juices.) Bake at 375 F for 1 hour and 20 minutes, until the skin is browned and the juices run clear when the thigh is poked with a fork.

Serve hot or cold. Enjoy!

Greek lemon chicken with a side of Greek pasta salad.