Baked Chicken Recipes: Frank Sinatra Chicken

I have had this recipe on an old yellowed recipe card for years! I don't even remember where I got it. I just know when I look over my baked chicken recipes and see this one, that I've found one of my quick chicken recipes that never fails to deliver good comfort food! It just says "Italian Chicken and Potatoes - Frank Sinatra".

Long ago I read about the birth of Frank Sinatra and I was so surprised. Apparently he was delivered at home in a rather run-down flat in Hoboken, New Jersey. The year was 1915. When he was born, he was very small and his color was gray. He was declared a "still born" by the mid-wife. Frank's grandmother refused to accept that as fact. She quickly ran a sink of very cold water and plunged this tiny gray baby under the water. It wasn't but a minute until Frankie was screaming - obviously very ticked off, but ALIVE! We all owe that grandmother a debt of gratitude.

Some of the quick chicken recipes are actually the best! This one is one of my "go to" recipes on a chilly night, or one where I need to make a meal, but don't feel like "getting out in the kitchen and rattling pots and pans". This is all I do.

1. Take about three or four pounds of cut up chicken and place it in heavily salted water. Keep it in there while you chop a few veggies - about half an hour or so.
2. Take two sweet onions and slice then thinly. Take 6-8 large potatoes and cut them into quarters. Do the potatoes last so they don't brown with the exposure to the air.
3. Now take a LARGE baking dish - I use a broiler pan - and fill it with about 3/4 of an inch of olive oil. Remove the chicken from the water and pat dry with paper towels. Place into the pan and top with the onion slices that you have separated by hand. Now add all around your potatoes, salt and pepper just the way you like it. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of oregano all over the pan. I also like to sprinkle a little white wine or white wine vinegar over everything at this point, but that is not in Frank's recipe. Now sprinkle in 1 cup of chopped parsley and mix it all together with your hands!
4. Throw it in a 350 degree oven for 70 minutes or so - when the taters are done.

Baked chicken recipes like this with a side salad are all you need. If you would like to read more about Frank and the Rat Pack, click here!

For more baked chicken recipes, visit me here!

Mangia Bene!