Chicken in Lemon Caper Butter

"The first dish I ever served to guests and the response I got was so positive I've been making it ever since. Needless to say, it's a very simple recipe. One of the few chicken dishes I still make using bone-in, skin-on chicken parts. When feeding known garlic-lovers, I'll increase the garlic. I generally serve it with noodles. While I post the original amounts from the recipe below, I actually do not measure the butter & lemon juice when I make this, but rather use 1 lemon's worth lemon juice and approximately the same or just slightly more butter, so that the butter comes to about 2-3 Tbs I would guess."
 
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photo by Rita1652 photo by Rita1652
photo by Rita1652
photo by Zurie photo by Zurie
photo by Zurie photo by Zurie
photo by Nimz_ photo by Nimz_
photo by Nimz_ photo by Nimz_
Ready In:
40mins
Ingredients:
9
Serves:
4-6
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ingredients

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directions

  • Put the ingredients on the list from butter through capers in a skillet and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
  • Arrange the chicken in the skillet and bring to a boil again.
  • Cover, lower heat and simmer about 30 minutes until the chicken is tender, turning several times. 4.

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Reviews

  1. Reading the reviews, I am a little annoyed at all the pickyness. This recipe needs exactly what is prescribed: chicken with skin and bone, and all that butter, and I promise you, it won't kill you! Thank you: I made the sauce as given, and we loved the butter. It was a lovely buttery sauce and really, subbing olive oil is just not the same thing. I tweaked one thing: I first roasted the chicken pieces in the oven with a smidgeon of BBQ sauce, so they would colour. Made the sauce exactly as set out, then added the half-roasted chicken pieces. Not sure why the 1/2 t paprika is in there, as that made nooo diff to the end result. One forgets how great real butter tastes in a dish!! The capers got somewhat lost in the overall taste. But no matter, this should be called "Lemon Butter Chicken"!!! I made white basmati rice to go with it, young carrots, and a large mixed salad. Thanks for the recipe!
     
  2. Taste easily 5 stars. However, directions are 3 stars. Aside from the butter, capers, and chicken there are no directions as what to do with lemon juice, mushrooms, garlic, and seasonings. I was surprised with so many reviews that this has not been addressed. I seasoned the breasts wtih salt, pepper, and paprika. I used fresh mushrooms so sauteed them first and removed from pan to saute chicken in butter, lemon, and capers. I used boneless, skinless, thighs so mine cooked in about 20 minutes. I added the cooked mushrooms at the last few minutes to heat up. Served over whole wheat linguine. The flavor really was delicious; I hope the chef revises the directions.
     
  3. I made this using halibut instead of chicken and it was delicious! I will try chicken next time. I also used fresh mushrooms since I hate canned ones but left everything else the same. Thanks for the recipe! It will be added to my regulars. Directions are great, so simple.
     
  4. This chicken is so good! I made it to go with some mashed potatoes, Greek Salad and cole slaw. This is a repeater! Thank you!
     
  5. Awesome is how my hubby described this recipe! I found the chicken moist & flavourful but I scraped off the sauce since I don't like mushrooms. But, my husband could not quit raving about the chicken & the sauce. As a personal preference, I used boneless, skinless chicken but followed the recipe otherwise.
     
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Tweaks

  1. I made this using halibut instead of chicken and it was delicious! I will try chicken next time. I also used fresh mushrooms since I hate canned ones but left everything else the same. Thanks for the recipe! It will be added to my regulars. Directions are great, so simple.
     
  2. Wordeful! I used olive oil instead of butter and I reduced the ammount to 2 tablespoons of olive oil cause I'm watching the calories. I used 2 cloves of garlic that I cut in half and remove them later after cooking. It's a keeper! Thanks for sharing!
     
  3. I'm giving this a 5 star for the wonderful flavor and juicy tenderness of the chicken. However, I would highly recommend that you decrease the butter to 1/4 cup or even less and broil to brown the chicken after it has simmered. Makes for a nice crispy crust. I used fresh mushrooms instead of the canned and three cloves of garlic. I simmered my chicken thighs for about 40 minutes and broiled it for about 5 minutes, served it on a bed of basmamti rice and it turned out great. This is one of those make often recipes. Absolutely wonderful.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

[SINCE I HAVE WELL OVER 200 COOKBOOKS, I SUGGEST THAT ANYONE EXPLORING MY COLLECTION CLICK ON 'AUTHOR'S ORDER' AT THE TOP OF THE RIGHT HAND COLUMN BEFORE PROCEEDING. I'VE ARRANGED THEM SO THAT COOKBOOK SERIES OR SIMPLY COOKBOOKS ON RELATED TOPICS APPEAR TOGETHER, WHICH SHOULD MAKE IT EASIER TO FIND THE ONES THAT INTEREST YOU.] In 2004, I moved home to New England after many years living in the South. Often I go walking in the morning with my sister, who lives near me on the Maine coast--we truly live in a beautiful place. I share a love of ACC basketball with my brother in upstate New York. Nowadays, I rely heavily on Kitty Rosati's Heal Your Heart book (lots of low-sodium recipes) and Donald Gazzaniga's No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook. Other cookbooks I frequently use are Weil & Daley's The Healthy Kitchen and Cooking Light's Five-Star Recipes cookbook. From January 2005 to September 2008, I hosted the recipe tagging game <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?p=2192193">ONE-TWO-THREE HIT WONDERS</a>, taking four months off in late 2007, during which the tireless, compassionate and totally wonderful Game Forum Hosts <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/88099"> ~Nimz~</a>, <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/67656"> justcallmetoni</a>, <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/157425">Lauralie41</a> and <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/428885">Andi of Longmeadow Farm</a> with incredible kindness of took over my workload. I loved hosting the game and the players there were and are the best, but competing obligations required me to give it up and it's now ably presided over by HokiesLady. In 2008 my dear sister finally joined Recipezaar. Her chef name is Sagadahoc (the county in Maine she lives in). My popular Recipe #89132 is actually her recipe--check it out sometime, it's great! She eventually realized how useful having several cookbooks can be, so I gave her a premium membership as her birthday present in March 2008. Some of my favorite sources of recipes are the public cookbooks of other Zaar chefs. I have over 100 bookmarked to refer to occasionally, but some of my favorites are from the following: In January-February 2007, the Chefs of 1-2-3 Hit Wonders hosted a Cook-a-Thon for veteran Zaar member Sharon123 while she was undergoing chemotherapy at Duke University. The entire group of recipes tagged, cooked and reviewed for the Cook-a-Thon are contained in: <li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=123948">Sharon123's Cook-a-Thon Cookbook</a></li> <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/58104">~Rita~</a>: Thanks to her stunning photographs, she has one of the most beautiful cookbook lists at Zaar. Her cookbooks focus on a variety of inspired topics, many of them health-related, and the introductions often provide an encyclopedic disquisition on the topic at hand. Some stand-outs: <li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/27685">Edible Flowers</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/33443">Honey Honey You`ve got me wanting you!</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/33123">Recipes I named after zaar chefs</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/33325">Menopause</a></li> If you've been around Zaar any length of time, you probably know that <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/4470">Bergy</a> writes wonderfully detailed and helpful recipe reviews and has also contributed a wealth of wonderful recipes of her own. 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UPDATE: <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/80353">evelyn/athens</a>, host of the Greek Cooking Forum and Greek food expert extraordinaire has a cookbook of her own Greek fecipes that could be the only reference you'll ever need for Greek cuisine: <li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/76021">Greek Cookery</a></li> I'm not a vegetarian, but I do eat meatless meals a fair amount of the time. 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