Chicken with Lime & Lemongrass

Saturday night’s dinner once again is an adaptation of a recipe from My Wild Atlantic Kitchen, a wonderful cookbook I picked up in a small bookstore in Kenmare, Ireland, where the author lives and is a chef.

There are several items I didn’t have access to, so I made some substitutions that I’ll note. But the flavor profile, I would like to think, comes pretty close.

I also finished the chicken in an air fryer, and not an oven.

Ingredients:

Chicken Ingredients

3 chicken leg quarters, broken down

2 Tbsp flour

Butter

Marinade Ingredients

2 Tbsp coriander powder

Zest and juice of 2 limes

Crushed red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp ginger

Lime syrup ingredients

Zest and juice of 3 limes

1 Tbsp agave

½ cup white wine

(Substitutions, I used lemon juice instead of 3 lemon grass stalks, crushed red pepper instead of Birdseye chilies, agave instead of brown sugar, white wine instead of vinegar, I used chicken leg quarters instead of breasts)

First marinade the chicken for 2-4 hours, or overnight.  Blend the marinade ingredients and toss into a bowl with the chicken, coating the chicken well, and put the bowl into the fridge.

In a small saucepan put in the lime syrup ingredients, gently simmer and then turn off heat.

Coat the chicken with flour. A close friend recommended using almond flour. Melt some butter in a saucepan and the sear the chicken for about 3-5 minutes a side. I like my big cast iron skillet for this.

I then put my chicken in an air frier for 15 minutes. The recipe calls for putting the skillet into the oven for 10-15 minutes at 350°. If you do this, use an oven-safe skillet.

Remove the chicken, drizzle with a little of the syrup, cook 2 more minutes. Put the chicken on a plate, deglaze the skillet with the rest of the syrup and pour on the chicken. Add water if it is too thick.

I served mine with a simple salad, but this would be great on spiralized zucchini.