Greek-style chicken

Greek-style, applied to food, usually means marinated, cooked, or served in olive oil and lemon juice. That's how this chicken is marinated and cooked. I made it with wings, but you could also use other chicken parts or a whole chicken cut into serving pieces.

Wings marinated and spread out on parchment paper for baking...

Since we found that would could buy chicken wings at the supermarket for a good price a couple of years ago, we've cooked them in many ways and styles — Buffalo, Yakitori, Tandoori, Vietnamese, and so on. They've all been good. I've noticed that some of the poultry vendors in the markets around Saint-Aignan have started selling wings, either raw (usually in a marinade) or already cooked.

...and after cooking for about 40 minutes in a medium oven

Twice, recently, I've marinated and cooked wings or other chicken parts Greek-style. The last time was last Friday for our Tour de France potluck picnic — which we ended up having to have indoors — and they were about the best. Here's the recipe.

Greek-style Chicken

½ cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
2 lemons, zested and juiced
1 tsp. hot red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
3 or 4 lbs. chicken parts

In a glass dish, mix the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, oregano, hot red pepper flakes, lemon juice, and half a dozen strips of lemon zest. If you use dried herbs, just use a teaspoon of each. Place the chicken pieces in the mixture, toss, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.

Cook the chicken on a grill or in the oven at 180ºC/350ºF for 30 or as long as 60 minutes, basting it with the leftover marinade frequently. The cooking time will vary according to the size of the chicken pieces you are cooking.

If you cook the chicken in the oven, you can save the lemony, herby cooking liquid or oil. Strain the it and use it to season cooked vegetables or fry potatoes in it, for example.

Too many wings, but the leftovers will be good

If you make extra wings, the way I did, you can keep them in the refrigerator and easily reheat them in the oven or even in the microwave before you serve them. Eat them with your fingers, of course. I wouldn't advise trying to eat them with a knife and fork.

Chicken wings for a picnic

If you cook a whole cut-up chicken, or legs or thighs, you can serve them as part of a more traditional meal, with knives and forks. That's what I would do in France, at least with people "of a certain age" like me. It's not very French to pick up foods with your fingers, except bread and apéritif snacks like potato chips and slices of saucisson sec.

P.S. It's raining this morning, with lightning and thunder. Let's hope it rains all day, and all day tomorrow.