Garlic Chicken and Potatoes

Since I just made a post about garlic, I thought I'd make this garlic chicken and potatoes recipe. If your like me and just use garlic powder, garlic salt or minced garlic out of a jar, you haven't used fresh garlic for your recipes. I did buy a garlic press, but it wasn't very easy to use. With this recipe we are going to use fresh garlic, so I'm providing a YouTube video to help us peel and prepare our garlic.

This recipe takes about 40 minutes to prepare and cook. It only serves 4. If you need to serve more people add more chicken breasts (1 per person) and potatoes (1 large or 2 medium per person).

Ingredients:

8-10 medium red potatoes, cleaned and quartered
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, optional
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 lemon, 1/2 squeezed 1/2 quartered
Pinch of red pepper flakes
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons parsley

Directions:

In a medium size bowl mix the potatoes, 1 tablespoon olive oil, cumin seeds and salt and pepper to taste. Add more olive oil if you are making extra potatoes.  Position your rack to the lower third of your oven and preheat to 425F. Spread your potatoes evenly in a baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes until they begin to brown. Remove the baking dish and set aside.

In a medium size skillet add the remaining olive oil and cook the chicken 2 1/2-3 minutes on each side until brown. In the baking dish push the potatoes to the side and add the chicken in the middle. In the same skillet add the garlic, brown sugar, squeezed lemon juice and the pinch of red pepper flakes stir for about 2 minutes on medium heat. Drizzle garlic mixture over the chicken. Bake in the oven 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are tender. Serve with the lemon wedges and sprinkle with parsley. Yum Yum

This is the original recipe. I'm going to try a different cooking method other than the oven. In an electric skillet I'm going to cook my potatoes. I'm still going to brown my chicken in a skillet and make the garlic mixture in the same skillet. But I'll add the chicken in the middle of my electric skillet. Drizzle the garlic mixture over the chicken and cook it for 20 minutes on med/high. This way I can keep a better eye on the potatoes and toss them frequently, which I can't do in the oven. I can also tell the chicken needs more time to be throughly cooked, as I can always remove the potatoes if they are already done. Let me know in comments which cooking method you prefer.