This is my wife’s favorite. If you like lemon pepper chicken you have to try this.
Lemon-Brined Pepper Chicken
Ingredients
o 1/2 quarts water
o 3/4 cup kosher salt
o 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 4 lemons)
o 2 tablespoons Frank’s RedHot or other hot sauce
o 1, 3-5lb chicken
o 1 lemon
o 1 onion
o 1 apple
o 2 garlic cloves
o Salt & Pepper
o Paprika
o Olive Oil
o 4 bay leafs?
Directions
1. In a pot large enough to hold chicken, combine the water, salt, lemon juice and whole lemon, hot sauce, and pepper and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the salt. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Loosen the skin of the chicken. Put chicken in, cover, and Refrigerate overnight. Make sure to submerge chicken in brine.
3. Chop the lemon, onion, apple and garlic cloves. Throw them in a bowl and mix together with salt, pepper and olive oil. Set aside.
4. Take your chicken out of the brine and rinse with cool water. Set on a tray. Now take the mixture you just made and stuff it inside the chicken.
5. Rub olive oil all over your bird. This will help give it a nice golden brown color. Then sprinkle salt and pepper all over, and a light dusting of paprika for color.
6. Cook at 250, and depending on the weight, your chicken will cook for 3 – 5 hours. You want an internal temperature in the leg of 170. If the bird is bigger or your heat is lower, it will take longer to reach this temperature.
7. Let the chicken rest for at least 20 minutes before pulling apart or slicing.