Recipe of the Week: Garlic Lime Seasoning for Chicken & Pork

I picked up on this wonderful dish through a post at Dave's Garden, when a Texas member shared her recipe for Garlic Lime Chicken. It is absolutely fabulous as-is, and I've found it also translates to boneless pork cutlets (tenderloin medallions cook quickly and work great.)


I ventured out one step further with the seasonings, and used them as a rub for a pork loin, which I roasted in my beloved Lodge dutch oven, and then used the drippings to create a reduction sauce similar to the original recipe. In a word: Yummy. You could probably use it as a rub on a roasted chicken as well - it's a terrific and easy blend of spices to whip up.

Marylyn's Garlic Lime Chicken 

Ingredients
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder (I use a generous dollop of fresh minced garlic instead)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon thyme

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 tablespoons lime juice

Directions:
In a bowl, mix together the first seven ingredients.  Sprinkle mixture on both sides of chicken breasts (you may want to pound them to a 1/2-inch thickness first.)

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; add butter and olive oil, when butter has melted and begins to froth, add chicken breasts, leaving room to move them around the pan (you may have to cook them in batches, depending on the size of the pan and the breasts.)  Saute until golden brown (about five minutes), turn and saute another 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the thickest part.

Remove chicken to a plate and keep warm.  Add chicken broth and lime juice to pan, scraping up the brown bits off the bottom into the sauce.  Keep stirring/whisking until sauce has reduced slightly.  Add chicken back to pan to thoroughly coat, then serve.  It's excellent with a rice pilaf or saffron rice, as well as with mashed potatoes.


For the loin roast, I used sea salt (cut the salt in half if you do!) and rubbed the dry ingredients over the washed-and-patted-dry roast in the pan.  Cover and bake at 350 until it reaches an internal temperature of 150; then remove the roast and allow it to stand for a few minutes before slicing. In the meantime, add a tablespoon of butter plus the chicken broth and lime juice to deglaze the pot, simmer until reduced.  Pour the reduced sauce over the loin slices just before serving.

Happy eating!