Novel Chicken

We came up with a novel, simple way to prepare some delicious chicken legs tonight.  The key to making this spontaneous recipe work seems to have been using the lemon slices to cover the chicken while it baked, then removing the slices and broiling the chicken to crisp the skin.  We served the chicken with beets in broth and perfect seasoned rice for a delicious dinner.

Ingredients

• 2 whole chicken legs
• 1 lemon
• 2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 2 Tbsp minced parsley
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp salt (for brine)
• 1 tsp salt (for paste)
• 1/4 tsp pepper

30 to 60 minutes prior to baking, dissolve 3 Tbsp salt in about 6 cups of cold water.  Submerge the chicken legs in the brine and refrigerate while prepping the other ingredients.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together the thyme, parsley, salt, pepper, and olive oil to form a thick paste.  After at least 30 minutes, remove the legs from the brine and pat dry with paper towels.  Trim any excess skin and/or fat.  Coat the legs thoroughly with the seasoning paste and place in a baking dish.  Cut the lemon into slices no more than 1/4 inch thick.  You need enough lemon slices to more or less cover the chicken legs.  After placing the slices on the legs, bake the chicken for about 50 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 165 degrees.  Remove slices from the chicken and place the uncovered chicken in the broiler for about five minutes or until the skin is crisped.