Chicken in a Hurry

You know what I mean when it's 6:00 and you need to get something on the table for dinner? Like right NOW. I have a go-to chicken recipe - it's not a 4-star winner, but it's certainly better than okay. My DH always says it's good, and I think it is too, as long as you know your purpose is to eat quickly.

It's nothing but this:

This is a can - a spice mix. It's imported from Hungary, although everything on the can is in English. The brand is "Pride of Szeged," "The World's Best Chicken Rub." It contains garlic, basil, paprika, oregano, salt and "spices." It can be purchased at some specialty grocery stores. The recipe on the back of the can suggests the following:

• Mix 1/4 cup of seasoning mix with 4 T. oil. Add 2 T. lemon juice or vinegar. Brush entire mixture on chicken [it doesn't say how much chicken]. Grill, bake or broil. For best result, refrigerate chicken in seasoning for 2-6 hours.

When I'm in a hurry I do nothing but sprinkle the spice mixture on chicken pieces and pan fry them in a bit of olive oil. That's it. Sometimes after the chicken has browned on both sides, I'll pour in a splash of vermouth, or red wine, sometimes a squeeze of lemon juice, as suggested in the above recipe. Then I may put a lid on the pan to just steam the chicken completely. Serve.

This time I had boneless, skinless chicken thighs, and some Siciliana Sauce (a sweet and sour, cold, chunky tomato based sauce I blogged about last year) that is absolutely great with chicken. Our friends, Sue & Lynn, brought some over when they came for dinner a week ago. But I've often served the chicken with nothing but this rub.

I bought the chicken rub at a German deli (in 2005), but I've seen it other places. And I did find it online also at a mailorder site. There is a website for the product, but it's not displaying. Don't know what that means. The company also makes other rubs, but this is the only one I've found. I'm not posting a printer friendly recipe for this since it's so simple. As long as you have the spice mix.

For your information, I served this with brussels sprouts that I cut in half and simmered in a bit of chicken broth and thyme. They were ready at the same time the chicken was ready. From start to finish I had dinner on the table in about 25 minutes.