Honey-lemon chicken recipe perfected by Stephen Colbert

This honey-lemon chicken recipe perfected by Stephen Colbert with his daughter’s assistance hits differently. Sharing recipes with their three grown children is Stephen Colbert and his wife Evie’s love language. Stephen’s signature spicy honey-lemon chicken has gained particular notoriety within the Colbert family’s cuisine. In addition to sharing it in this week’s PEOPLE Food issue, which he guest edited alongside Evie, the Late Show host discusses it in his new cookbook, Does This Taste Funny?

He told EVOLVEESSENCE, “My daughter Madeleine and I have made this honey-lemon chicken recipe into a telephone game.” “It changes a little every time we make it, and now she makes it completely differently than I do.”

A Shift In Finishing

Madeleine, 28, cooks her version in the oven to finish, but Stephen argues that his stovetop technique guarantees that the caramelized onions will have an extra punch of flavor.

In their latest cookbook, Peter, 26, and John, 22, the younger children of Stephen and Evie, also participate in the culinary fun.

They have sort of kept their family, their kids, and everything else away from what you could term celebrity because they are really private. However, they are now adults and took part voluntarily, according to Evie.

“It’s a little peek into our family,” she says. “It’s just a tiny bit of hanging out with us in the kitchen; it’s not like we’re going to be a reality TV show.”

Honey-Lemon Chicken Thighs Spiced

Serves: Four
Thirty minutes total cooking time.

Ingredients

¼ cup olive oil, separated
4 medium chicken thighs with the skin on and bones (1½ pounds)
Add more salt (up to 1 tsp) to season the chicken.
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
Two tablespoons hot honey (or two tablespoons normal honey with one-fourth teaspoon red pepper flakes)
3 minced garlic cloves
One teaspoon dried oregano
One big yellow onion, roughly chopped.

Procedure

A big pan filled with one tablespoon of olive oil is heated over medium heat. On both sides, liberally season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Place the chicken, skin-side down, gently in the heated oil and cook, uncovered, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the skin crisps.

In the meantime, combine the remaining 3 tablespoons oil, heated honey, garlic, oregano, lemon zest and juice, and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium-sized bowl. Put aside.

After the skin has become crispy, move the chicken to a platter. Over medium heat, add the onion to the pan and toss to coat it in the drippings. Lay the chicken over the onion, bone side down. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°.

Remove the chicken from the onion and drippings and place it on a spotless platter. Pour the honey-lemon mixture into the pan and turn the heat down to low. (It will instantly bubble up.) Simmer sauce until thickened, about 6 minutes, after stirring to deglaze pan. Return the chicken to the skillet and flip it to coat. Spoon some pan sauce over the chicken and serve.