We’ve been up to a lot lately.
Now I know y’all don’t believe that cause we ain’t been here but that doesn’t mean we ain’t been busy…
Alright, alright, that may or may not be a little white lie just depends on how you want to look at.
How are we looking at it?
We’re good with it.
We HAVE been in the kitchen cooking up a something fierce just not with the intent and all the labor that comes with planning the recipe: checking the weather (yes, the weather. We shoot in natural light only), charging multiple camera batteries, searching for the ever-lost SD card, getting up at the crack of dawn on our only day off to well, work.
So as we said, we’re good with it.
The silence on the blog.
And it’s a little scary because we went ahead and did the one the thing they say to never do: get off the merry-go-around. We stepped off, took a breath and cruised right on into holidays and thru the official/unofficial holiday season of Mardi Gras.
From one frying pan into the other…
We will admit to sleeping in like teenagers, baking delicious treats at 1 AM, impromptu dinner parties with no real start or end time, we read all the magazines on our shelves since last August and all of this. It was divine.
Then.
Then there was a crisis of faith: “what are we doing this for?”
“Does anyone really give a shit about another food blog?”
The answer we came up with: probably not.
It’s all just a rat race to sell personality and monetize the hell out of it.
Then of course, the inevitable question that causes heart palpations just as bad as they did in art school: “Who are we doing this for?”
And thankfully in the end, it turns out we enjoy torturing the hell out of ourselves publicly.
So much so that we’re posting this recipe without any photos of the final dish.
Why? Because we don’t give a shit.
All you need to know is that it was good. Real good.
Good enough that 3 people ate all 9 chicken thighs with complete disregard for that thing they call gluttony. In one sitting.
So we’re here to tell you that we’re back.
We’re here to eat all the things and drink all the drinks.
We’re also your honest to the bone, no bullshit/pretense-recipe-tester.
Eat. It. Up.
Golden Chicken Thighs with Charred Lemon Salsa Verde
(inspired by and for the most part is Nancy Silverton’s)
Prep time: you don’t want to know but it’s so worth it.
Cook time: 45 mins, roughly
Yield: 12 delicious golden thighs
INGREDIENTS
For the GOLDEN THIGHS:
9 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
18 sage leaves
4 TBSP unsalted butter, sliced in 9 slices
zest strips from two lemons
6 bay leaves
12 garlic cloves total, 8 cut into slices. 4 cloves smashed.
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil, such as California Olive Ranch’s Arequina olive oil.
Small handful each chopped thyme, oregano and parsley
1 tsp crushed red pepper
a sprinkling of kosher salt
SALSA VERDE
1 lemon, cut into ½ inch slices
1 TBSP plus ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
one good handful each chopped oregano and mint
2 garlic cloves minced
1 anchovy fillet
½ tsp capers
kosher salt to taste
Alright, you’re going to need to let this chicken marinade 4 hours to overnight before preparing. Trust me it’s so much better this way…
For the chicken:
Break out the 9x13 baking dish, toss in the chicken thighs skin side up.
Now carefully left the skin, without tearing and slide sage leaves, a couple slice of garlic, and a pat of butter on each thigh.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the lemon zest with smash garlic, olive oil, chopped herbs and crushed red pepper. Pour over chicken and let marinate for at least 4 hours.
For the salsa verde:
Preheat oven to 450F.
Bust out the baking sheet, line with alumnimum foil and toss lemons in olive oil. Spread slices evenly and bake until charred about 15 minutes.
Alright, now dig out the food processor. Toss in the oregano, mint, a clove or two of garlic, anchovy, capers and about 1 tsp kosher salt. While pulsing herb mixture, slowly add in ½ cup of olive oil. Pulse until roughly chopped.
In a large cast iron skillet, add in 3 to 4 TBSP lard. Yes, lard. Over medium-high heat.
Once lard has melted and skillet is hot. Add in chicken thighs, skin side down, 3 at a time. Cook until skin is crispy. You’ll know when it starts to crispen up, skin won’t stick to pan. Until then let it alone. Do this for the remaining 6 thighs. Sweet, delicious crispy skin. On another aluminmum lined baking sheet, toss garlic and bay leaves on the pan.
Next place crispy thighs skin up.
Sprinkle thighs with about 1/3 of the salsa verde and slide then into the oven to roast, uncovered for 30 minutes.
So dang delicious…
These golden thighs cannot be consumed without the following:
Baked Onions with Fennel Bread Crumbs
INGREDIENTS
3 medium yellow onions, peeled and halved lengthwise. Roots intact.
2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
½ cup chicken stock
6 bay leaves
small handful minced sage
¼ cup salsa verde
¼ cup bread crumbs
1 tsp fennel seeds, coarsely ground
Preheat oven to 425F
Line that rimmed baking sheet with foil.
Scatter bay leaves along the bottom of sheet, add in stock.
Place onions cut side up, cover with foil and slide into the oven for 1 hour, until onions are tender.
While the onions are cooking, coarsely grind fennel seeds in spice grinder.
In a small bowl, add fennel seeds, about ¼ cup of leftover salsa verde from chicken and breadcrumbs until a loose paste forms.
Once the onions are ready, remove foil, add on the salsa verde breadcrumb mixture and continue roast for 30 minutes more.
EAT. IT. UP.