Lemon Brine Chicken Recipes

Steps:

• Mix water, kosher salt, white sugar, garlic, sage, basil, peppercorns, and bay leaf in a large pot over medium-high heat; bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the salt and sugar are dissolved completely, about 20 minutes.
• Remove pot from heat and cover with a lid. Cool brine at room temperature for 2 hours before refrigerating to cool completely.

Steps:

• Mix honey, salt, water, bay leaves, and garlic together. Pull skin away from chicken just enough to place sage leaves and lemon slices under skin. Truss the chicken and tie the other end of the butcher's twine to the pot handle for a quick retrieval of the brined chicken. Place chicken in liquid and let sit in cooler for 12 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Place chicken on roasting rack in oven and brush with olive oil. Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes or until juices run clear.

Steps:

• Make the brine--in a big pot, combine the sugar, salt, and dried thyme; squeeze the lemon juice into the pot and add the juiced lemon halves.
• Add 1 gallon of cold water and stir the mixture to dissolve the sugar and salt.
• Remove and discard the neck, giblets, wing tips, and any excess fat from the chicken; submerge teh chicken in the brine, breast side down, and cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.
• Remove the chicken from the pot and discard the brine; pat the chicken dry with paper towels.
• Lightly brush the outside of the chicken with oil.
• Season with pepper inside and out.
• Place the garlic and fresh thyme in the cavity of the chicken; tie the legs together.
• Grill, breast side up, over Indirect Medium heat until the juices run clear and the internal temperature reaches 170° in the breast and 180° in the thickest part of the thigh, 1 1/2 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest for about 10 minutes before carving; serve warm.

Steps:

• In a large plastic bag placed in a large, deep pot (a stockpot is good) combine the water, salt, honey, dried thyme, garlic halves, black pepper and sliced 1/2 lemon.
• Add chicken breasts to brine and tie up bag tightly.
• Allow chicken to brine in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 12 hours, preferably no more than 18 hours.
• When brining time is up, remove chicken from brine (no need to rinse) and place in a baking dish.
• Bake chicken, covered, in a 375 degree F oven for one hour.
• After one hour, remove cover, sprinkle the juice of 1/2 lemon over chicken breasts; drizzle each chicken breast with just over a tablespoon of honey; gently spoon some pan juices over them, and season to taste with black pepper.
• Return to oven for 20 more minutes, or until breasts are nicely browned a little.

Steps:

• Remove and discard skin from all chicken pieces except wings. Add all chicken pieces to large resealable plastic bag; place in large bowl.
• Bring 2 cups water, lemon peel, salt, garlic and herbs to boil in saucepan. Remove from heat; pour into separate large bowl. Add remaining water, dressing and ice; stir until ice is melted.
• Pour over chicken; seal bag. Refrigerate overnight. Remove chicken from dressing mixture; discard dressing mixture. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Let stand at room temperature 20 min. Meanwhile, heat greased grill to medium-high heat.
• Grill chicken 2 min. on each side. Reduce grill to medium heat. Grill chicken 8 to 18 min. or until done (165°F), turning occasionally and removing chicken pieces from grill when done. (Smaller pieces will cook more quickly. See tip for suggested grill times.)

Steps:

• In a very large pot, combine 1 quart of the water with 1 cup of the salt and the honey, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme and parsley. Add the lemon zest and juice and the lemon halves and bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring until the salt is dissolved. Let cool completely, then stir in the remaining 3 quarts of cold water. Add the chickens, being sure they're completely submerged, and refrigerate overnight.
• Drain the chickens and pat dry. Scrape off any herbs or peppercorns stuck to the skin and cut each bird into 8 pieces, keeping the breast meat on the bone.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne and the remaining 2 teaspoons of salt. Put the buttermilk in a large, shallow bowl. Working with a few pieces at a time, dip the chicken in the buttermilk, then dredge in the flour mixture, pressing so it adheres all over. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet lined with wax paper.
• In a very large, deep skillet, heat 1 inch of vegetable oil to 330°. Fry the chicken in 2 or 3 batches over moderate heat, turning once, until golden and crunchy and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of each piece registers 160°, about 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to paper towels to drain, and keep warm in a low oven while you fry the remaining chicken pieces.
• Transfer the fried chicken to a platter, garnish with the herb sprigs and serve hot or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Prepare an ice water bath for the basil.
• Bring a small saucepan of water to boil over medium high heat; wilt basil leaves, drain, and plunge basil into ice water bath, then drain.
• Puree blanched basil, salt, lemon zest, pepper and water in a mini food processor or blender until smooth.
• Combine chicken with puree in a large resealable plastic bag and allow to marinate several hours or up to overnight.
• Grill chicken over indirect heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until an internal temperature of 165 degrees F with grill cover on.
• Open grill lid and grill chicken, skin side down, over direct heat to crisp skin and give it some char, 1 or 2 minutes.
• Loosely tent chicken with aluminum foil and let rest several minutes before serving.