Garlic. Lime. Chicken.

LSC here. Crossposting this to my blog, too. It’s been neglected of late, what with a tornado and all, but I’m getting back up to steam.

Last night’s spicy garlic lime chicken — modeled closely on this, but with a few modifications and a bit of improv — is the sort of thing that makes me wonder why people even go out to restaurants in the first place.

Got the basmati rice going in the rice cooker before I started prepping, and it dinged over at almost exactly the same time the chicken was done cooking.

Here’s the rundown:

* 3/4 teaspoon fresh-ground Himalayan pink salt
* 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1/8 teaspoon regular paprika
* 1/8 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
* 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
* 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
* 6 chicken thighs

* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1/2 garlic bulb, peeled and minced
* 3 tablespoons lime juice

DIRECTIONS

0. If you’re going to be serving this with something — rice, pasta, or potatoes — be mindful that this whole recipe takes about 30-45 minutes to complete, so if you don’t start cooking your sides before you start working on the chicken, you might get caught out.

1. In a small bowl, mix together all dry ingredients to make a spice mix. Sprinkle spice mixture generously on both sides of chicken thighs.

2. Heat butter and olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken until golden brown, about 6 minutes on each side. Add the minced garlic and lime juice. Cook until cooked through, turning frequently to make sure it all gets coated in delicious goodness.

Why the chicken thighs? Largely because I stopped at the store on the way home to get the lime juice, and there was a package at 50% off (at-expiry-date pricing). I also like the taste of chicken thighs; some people (including Kali) prefer breast but I find the thighs have a nice potent “chickeny” taste. I also like liver, and venison, so maybe “meaty” meat is my thing.

On the whole: wow. Even in the pan, I could smell this was going to be something special.

And once I got it on the table, on a nice bed of basmati rice with a glass of chilled white wine, it was spectacular..

This is — as many recipes are — a restaurant killer. About 45 minutes of work, pillar to post, and most of it spent on the phone with Kali, chatting as I cooked (and as she tidied up around her place). An easy recipe to assemble, and to clean up after (one pan, one spice mix bowl, the rice cooker and the eatin’ bowl).

And delicious. Jaw-dropping delicious. Lots of leftovers, too, now patiently biding their time in the freezer for those nights that I’m too busy to cook.