Oven Fried Chicken With Honey Butter Sauce

I'm really more of a baker. I think I'm made of flour, sugar and butter (which is why, I try to convince Sweetie-Pi, I melt in the rain. So far he hasn't bought it.)

I only occasionally eat red meat (with the exception of hamburg -- what I'm referring to is slab 'o beef) or fish. I could easily go my whole life without either one. I do, however, like chicken.

Ever meet someone who's like an angel on this earth? That would be someone like my friend, Kathye. Now there's a woman who is always on the go, involved in her community, volunteer activities, and friends and family. And to top it all off, she's a great cook with a generous heart and table. She shared this recipe that she discovered in Martha Dixon's Copper Kettle cook book.

Remember how I mentioned I don't particularly care for red meat? Well, Sweetie-Pi doesn't care all that much for chicken. But let me tell you, when I serve this, the yummy noises he makes are nonstop, and he keeps saying over and over again, "This is good! This is really, really good!"

Oven Fried Chicken with Honey Butter Sauce

1 tender frying chicken, cut up for frying
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/4 cup melted butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup lemon juice

Dip chicken pieces into mixture of flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. Melt one stick butter in a shallow baking pan in a hot oven (400 degrees). Remove pan from oven. Arrange chicken in single layer in pan, turning to coat with butter. Bake skin-side down in a hot oven (400F) 30 minutes. Turn chicken.

Prepare the butter~honey sauce made by melting 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan and adding honey and lemon juice. Spoon sauce over chicken. Bake another 30 minutes or until fork-tender Spoon sauce over chicken during last 15 minutes of baking,
Yield: 4 servings.

There's only Sweetie-Pi and I, so a whole chicken would be way too much for us. I bought a package of three boneless, skiness chicken breasts, and divided the breasts. I reduced the ingredients by half, except for the sauce.

Because I'm a lazy cook, I combine all the coating ingredients into a large plastic bag and add the chicken and shake to distribute. (I don't like the feeling of raw chicken, what can I say?)

As the breasts are thinner than whole chicken parts, the cooking time is greatly reduced. I cooked the breasts for 20 minutes on one side, added the sauce, and cooked an additional 10-15 minutes or so.

One medium lemon should give you about 1/4 cup of lemon juice. When I made the sauce, I also tossed in a little lemon rind with the butter as it melted. I happen to love lemon and have a sour taste bud as well as a sweet one. The nice thing about the sauce, if you sample it, your taste buds will tell you if you want more lemon or more honey.

Tender, juicy. Honey sweet. Lemon tart. Beautiful to look at. As Sweetie-pi said, "This is good! This is really, really good!"