Broiled chicken thighs

When a person spends several years perfecting a technique and he then wants to share it, the least he can hope for is to show it off well enough that folks want to take a good look at it. That's the case with these chicken thighs. Details below, but notice that I have cut the meat away from the bone slightly on the non-skin side. According to Jacques Pepin this is a good technique for even cooking. Maybe, but it cost me all of 30 seconds to do it.

Broiled chicken thighs
5 chicken thighs, skin on and bone in
ground Chinese 5-spice powder
garlic powder
black pepper

Brine the thighs for 2 hours, rinse thoroughly and dry with paper towels. Sprinkle them generously with the powders and pepper. Remember you don't need salt after the brining process. If you're not willing to brine, make a different recipe.

Place them skin side down on a greased rack on a baking pan and slide under the broiler (at least 4 inches from heat source). Remember not to close the oven door all the way to avoid the heating element or gas flame from cycling off.

After 10 minutes turn the thighs skin side up and place back under the broiler. Keep an eye on them so that the skin does not burn. If they start to darken too much, turn the broiler off and the oven to 400 degrees. Close the door and cook the cute little devils to 170 degrees internal temp. Let them rest 5 minutes. Eat them, but not too quickly.

Spicy, sweet and sour chicken thighs

Kudos for the genesis of this recipe go to Life’s Ambrosia and Jenn’s Food Journey. I’ve combined elements from the former’s habanero chicken and the latter’s raspberry chipotle chicken. For the peppers I chose to use a few Thai bird chiles we saved from garden in anticipation of the first frost a few days ago. Instead of raspberry jam I used some apricot (which I had on hand).

My choice of chicken was skin-on thighs (I love the skin), again because I had a package (acquired at a low price from the Safeway manager’s specials bin). The Thai chiles aren’t terribly hot, so I used 2 and left the seeds in one of them. Having a marinade meant no brining this time.

Spicy, sweet and sour chicken thighs
2 Thai bird chiles, 1 seeded, 1 not, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup white vinegar
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 tbsp apricot jam
½ medium onion, sliced thinly into half moons
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

Place the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and whisk thoroughly together. Coat the chicken with this and marinate in a glass bowl covered with plastic in the fridge for a few to several hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a baking dish make 4 “nests” with the onion slices and place the chicken, skin side up, on top of them. Pour excess marinade over the top Bake to 165 degrees, 40-45 minutes (if chicken is at room temp).

Butter poached chicken thighs

This is not the healthiest recipe I’ve ever made, but I was in the mood for it and lazy enough to do it (it took very little attention).

We had this container of Montreal grill seasoning for chicken. It’s been in the pantry for years but still had a nice aroma. Any other seasoning a person wants is perfect to substitute. Frankly just brining and peppering would be adequate.

Butter poached chicken thighs
4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
black pepper
other seasoning you enjoy

Trim the thighs of excess fat and skin and brine them for 2-3 hours. Rinse thoroughly under cold water, dry with paper towels and set aside for 30 minutes to come to room temperature. Then season them with some pepper and other seasoning – your choice.

In a saute pan large enough to hold all 4 thighs without crowding, melt the butter in the oil over medium-high heat. When the foam subsides, add the thighs skin side down. When they have browned nicely (5-6 minutes), turn them skin side up, cover the pan, reduce heat to low (you want the butter to just barely bubble), pour yourself a cocktail and go watch “Millionaire.”

Come back in 30 minutes. Make a little cut next to the bone to see if they are cooked. They probably are.

Broiled chicken thighs

The photo is of the chicken during prep, showing how I stuffed the thighs with carrot and oregano. It didn't seem important to include a photo of the cooked chicken - for heaven's sake, you know what that looks like!

This is such a simple recipe, I have to post it, even though I think I did something similar a ways back. Truth be told, I never do anything exactly the same way twice. (Just looked it up in this blog - it was almost a year ago.

The carrot and oregano under the skin were a last minute inspiration caused by my discovery of part of a carrot in our fridge's veggie drawer.

Broiled chicken thighs (serves 4)
4 bone-in chicken thighs
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp black pepper, plus more to taste
2 cups water
4 tbsp grated carrot
2 tsp dried oregano

Start by brining the chicken for at least an hour or for several hours, up to you. Just dissolve the salt and sugar in the water, add the pepper, and refrigerate in a freezer bag.

An hour before cooking, thoroughly rinse and dry the thighs. Loosen the skin and put 1 tbsp carrot and 1/2 tsp (or to taste...this amount is pretty agressive) oregano under it.

Preheat the broiler, leaving the door ajar so that it won't cycle off and on. Place the oven rack in the second highest position under the broiler heat source (the topmost position will cause the chicken to burn.

Add a bit more pepper to the chicken, place the thighs on a rack over a shallow baking pan, skin side down and slide under the broiler. Broil for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken over and broil for 8-10 more minutes, until cooked through.

Broiled chicken legs and thighs

I have mentioned at least a couple of times how I pressure cook a chicken to make dog food (with brown rice and frozen vegetables). Each time I do it I save either the breast portion or the legs and thighs for human consumption.

I "borrowed" the above picture from another website. My thanks and apologies. You certainly can leave the legs and thighs attached, but I am in the habit of separating them. I don't think it particularly matters, so suit yourself.

America’s Test Kitchen did a number on what they call “picnic chicken” a few months ago. We tried it 2 or 3 times and, while it was good, it wasn’t great. The following recipe comes under the category “great” in my book. Using all the various techniques I’ve come to espouse in recent years, I made this up yesterday. It may be the best version of chicken I have ever made.

Chicken is hard to screw up. After all, you can grill, poach, roast, or fry it. The only trick is to get it cooked through but not over-cooked. If you use an instant read thermometer you should be golden.

Broiled chicken legs and thighs
2 chicken legs and 2 chicken thighs
Dry rub (recipe below)
2 tbsp salt
2 cups water

Dissolve the salt in the water and put it and the chicken in a freezer bag. Squeeze out as much air as you can, seal, and place the bag in a large bowl and then into the refrigerator for at least an hour, preferably 3 hours.

Remove and rinse the chicken with cold water. Dry the pieces well with paper towels. Place a clean paper towel on a plate and put the chicken on it. Coat the chicken with the dry rub. Put the plate of chicken into the refrigerator uncovered for an hour or two. Remove 45 minutes before cooking and allow to come to room temperature.

Preheat the broiler and place the oven rack on the second location below the heating element. This is important: if you use the top location the chicken will burn. Here’s a hint about broiling in the oven: if you close the oven door the heating element in an electric oven will cycle on and off and you will be baking more than broiling. Every oven I’ve ever had has a position for the door which leaves it open a few inches. The purpose for this door setting is clearly for broiling. With the oven door ajar the heating element will remain on throughout the cooking time. It has been years since I've had a gas oven (although I would prefer to have one), so I'm not sure if the gas broiler element will cycle off if the door is closed. If you don't know about your gas oven, do a test run.

Put the chicken on a wire rack on a raised-sided baking sheet. Place under the broiler. Broil for 5 minutes and then rotate the pan 180°. Broil 5 more minutes and then turn the chicken pieces over. Broil for 5 minutes and turn your oven to “bake” and set the temperature to 350°. Close the oven door and allow to continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Check the internal temperature. If it has reached 160° remove it from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. If it’s not quite there, just leave it in the oven for a few more minutes with the oven turned off.

Dry rub
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
1 ½ tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground white or black pepper
PLEASE NOTE: do not add salt to the chicken after brining.

Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl.

For a free excerpt of my book, “A Year of Food,” in which I opine, report, cook, muse and philosophize about everything that passed my lips for an entire year, write to me at: scrout1944@msn.com.