after dinner sneeze

t says: My cooking method of choice for some time has been braising – it’s just so much fun! The one meat that I’m just not 100%-pro-braise for is chicken – and I’m pretty sure that it’s because of a single problem: soggy skin. I mean who likes soggy skin?! No one! Chicken skin is supposed to be crisp and delicious! And between Rotisseur and FedNuts, there’s a lot of good skin out there! I was determined to put together a recipe that offered great skin, reasonably-tender-meat, and minimal time commitment (braises take way too long). So, with the help of Molly Stevens’s “All About Roasting”, I went back to basics: roasting skin-on chicken thighs.

Ingredients:
garlic, gouchichang, lemons, roasted sesame seeds, salt, pepper, rosemary, orange liqueur, chicken

Methods:

the rub

Step 1: The rub. The above is a concoction of a heaping teaspoon of gouchichang, a heaping teaspoon of roasted sesame seeds, a half teaspoon of sesame oil (you can use whatever oil you want – I like the sesame flavor), 4 cloves of minced fresh garlic (yes, it’s a LOT of garlic), a dash of black pepper, and then enough lemon juice to make it spreadable (~0.5 lemon). So basically, it’s made of everything awesome, mashed together (and yes, it needs to be mashed to release some of the garlic essences). And, because I added gouchichang and sesame seeds, I can now call this “korean roast chicken”.  Afterwards, coat the entirety of each chicken piece with the rub – and make sure you get a good amount between the skin and chicken.  Let the chicken temper at least a half hour.

getting fancy in the pan

Step 2: The pan. Here’s where we make it fancy. Place a slice of lemon wherever you plan on placing a chicken thigh. Top it with a sprig of rosemary. Add a half teaspoon of orange liqueur to each slice (we tend to have GranGala on hand, but whatever).  You don’t want to put in more orange liqueur than can be contained a single lemon slice, as the excess will leak away from the lemon, and then burn and smoke when heated in the oven (trust me – I made this mistake already).

the assembly

Step 3: The Assembly. Place each piece of chicken on top of each slice of lemon. Basically, each piece of chicken is on its own lemon pedestal. It’s weird, but I feel that these slices of lemon really add some zing! Season with salt and pepper.  Snake some remaining sprigs of rosemary between the chicken – if nothing else, the pan will look more festive, and your house will smell like rosemary, so what do you have to lose?

Step 4: The Cookery. 450 degrees for 30-35 minutes (40 minutes was great, but I’m anticipating I could go shorter and it’d be juicier).

And that’s it! Based on how hot you like it, you could smother more of the sauce on the chicken before cooking.