Quick braised chicken with rosemary and new potatoes

I love borrowing cookbooks from the library. (I've been known to read them like novels, especially as some light bedtime reading.) One of the books I currently have out is The Deen Bros. Take It Easy: Quick and Affordable Meals the Whole Family Will Love by Jamie and Bobby Deen, sons of Paula. 

Like their mom, the Deen brothers are food celebrities in their own right. The premise of their cookbook is that, while their mother's food is delicious and the centerpiece of their family life and livelihoods, their schedules don't often allow for the slow Southern way of cooking. Jamie and Bobby Deen strive to give their readers - and their mama's fans - the same down home goodness in less than 45 minutes of preparation.

Jamie and Bobby live up to expectations in Take It Easy. There's something for everyone in this book - yes, even the vegetarian! - although many of the recipes draw (or should that be drawl? :) on their Southern heritage. Recipes abound for meat, poultry, fish, pasta dishes, crockpot meals, main-course salads, kid-friendly foods (Jamie has a 3 year old, so he knows toddlers' picky tastebuds) and of course, desserts.  All the photographs are beautiful and written in such a style that you just want to sit down at the table with the Deen family for dinner and listen to them talk.

Here's one of the recipes from the book that the kids and I enjoyed on a night that The Husband was working late (he doesn't eat meat, so I usually make a chicken dish on those evenings).

Quick Braised Chicken with Rosemary and New Potatoes

Ingredients:
3 pounds chicken legs, cut into thighs and drumsticks (or just use one or the other)
2 Teaspoons salt, plus additional for seasoning
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus additional for seasoning
1 pound small new red potatoes, cut into eighths
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and rosemary.

3. Place the chicken in a large broiler-proof baking pan and season with additional salt and pepper. Add the potatoes to the pan. Pour the rosemary mixture over the chicken and potatoes and toss to coat.

(My note: you will notice that I forgot the potatoes, and didn't have any new potatoes on hand.  Fortunately, I had some canned potatoes in the pantry. Not ideal, but better than nothing.)

4. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan and transfer to the broiler. Broil, 4 inches from the heat, for about 10 minutes, or until the juices run clear when the chicken is pricked with a fork. Serve hot, with pan juices spooned on top. (my note: this needed a little more cooking time in my oven ... at the 45 minute mark, it seemed more done).

The chicken in the other pan was used as my lunch and the kids' dinner the next day. It was easier to cook the entire package of chicken legs instead of freezing the ones I didn't use.

The kids and I enjoyed this very much. It was really simple and will be a good dinner to make whenever chicken legs happen to be on sale.