We made baked basil pesto marinated chicken breast skewers for New Year's eve dinner. Done this dozens of times on a weber charcoal grill. Frequent turning the skewers and brushing with a little more sauce. In the oven, they came out a wee bit dry, maybe because we didn't pay as close attention, and they certainly were not pampered while baking. Also, chicken pieces cut in squares do not need to cook as long as whole chicken parts. Flavor was still tasty. Pesto is goes great with chicken.
A tale a tale- the best chicken I ever ate.
Good friends had 3 kids back to back to back. Hubby got a vasectomy. Wife miraculously and immediately gets pregnant again. We went to visit them on their rented farm a few miles out of Dodge, eg to us, in the middle of no-where. We stopped at the small town's butcher shop and picked up a few local grown chickens for dinner. Wife takes the chickens out of the packages, plops them in dry cast iron fry pans. I'm picturing wife is holding her back with one hand while she puts the pans in the oven and closes the door with her hip. She and the girls retreat to the shade outside as the house is not air conditioned. The guys wander over to the garden to pick and shuck sweet corn and drink beer.
A while later, dinner is ready. Chicken comes out of the oven and corn and whatever is cooked. Place chicken on platters. Make gravy Chicken is golden brown, skin crispy, and even a few crispy air bubbles on some of the skin, moist inside. That's it. No seasonings, no added oil for baking.
Made plenty of pan juices for gravy. We've done this at home too. Chicken tastes like chicken.