Broiled Chicken Thighs and Asparagus with Lemon and Garlic

This recipe is dear to my heart. I can't take any credit for it though. It comes from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks called, The Quick Recipe. I discovered it almost a decade ago, I was still fairly new to married life & I was all about learning how to cook exceptional food. For me this was one of those milestone recipes that really made me feel like I could cook. Every time I make it now, I get that nostalgic feeling I got the first time I made it when it smelled so good in my kitchen it made me think "it smells like a restaurant in here!". It's really, really good.

Broiled Chicken Thighs and Asparagus with Lemon and Garlic

~serves 4~

Ingredients:

For the Garlic-Thyme oil:

4 cloves of garlic, minced with a garlic press or grated using a microplane grater

1 t. minced fresh thyme

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

3/4 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

For the Chicken:

8 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat

2 lemons, 1 trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch thick rounds, the other cut into wedges

2 lbs. asparagus, tough ends snapped off

nonstick spray

salt & pepper

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl mix together, garlic, thyme, olive oil, salt & pepper. Remove 1 1/2 T. of oil mixture into a separate bowl, set aside.

2. Adjust oven racks to lower-middle position (about 13 inches below heating element), and upper-middle position (about 5 inches from the heating element). Heat the broiler. Using a slotted broiler pan, lightly coat the top with nonstick spray.

3. Using a sharp knife, make 3 diagonal slashes through the skin of each chicken thigh. (This is done to help excess fat drain from the thighs and facilitate better browning.) Season with salt & pepper, place skin-side down on broiler pan rack. Place a lemon slice on top of each thigh.

4. Broil chicken on the bottom rack until just beginning to brown, 12-16 minutes. Using tongs flip the chicken skin-side up so it rests on the lemon slice. Continue to broil on the bottom rack until the skin is slightly crisp and meat registers 160 degrees in the thickest part, about 15 minutes. Brush chicken with the garlic-oil mixture, move to upper rack and broil until the chicken is crisp and dark brown in spots, 1-2 minutes. (Watch carefully that the chicken doesn't burn.) Transfer chicken and lemon slices to a serving platter.

5. Remove the broiler pan top, (careful, it's hot) pour off all but 1 t. chicken fat from the broiler pan bottom. Add asparagus. Broil, shaking the pan once or twice to turn the asparagus spears, until tender and lightly browned, 7-10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and while the asparagus is still in the pan, toss with the reserved 1 1/2 T. garlic oil mixture. Serve with the chicken, broiled lemon slices and lemon wedges.