Crispy Chicken Confit
This is a riff on the classic French dish Duck Confit. Duck is sometimes hard to find and often not to everyone’s taste. I personally love it! One of my fondest memories is walking into a small Paris Bistro in the late 80’s with Tom, my sister Liz, her husband Jeff and newborn son, Colton. We had taken the bullet train from London, their homebase at the time, to spend a couple of days in the City of Lights. We had just explored several gardens and monuments and were trying to hail a cab back to our hotel. The minute the cabbies saw the huge tram that they would have to squeeze into their cab it was not going to happen. We were exhausted and had walked for miles and just decided out-of-the-blue to head into this non-descript little place for a glass of wine and some cheese to hold us over until our dinner. Well, we saw duck confit on the menu and decided to get a couple of orders and treat it as an appetizer. Oh my, what an experience. It was crispy and moist and seasoned to perfection. Two orders turned into four and we cancelled the reservation we had at a 3-star fancy restaurant later that night. Over the years I have featured it as a special and it always sold out quickly. Instead of using duck and duck fat I have opted for chicken and olive oil. It is much lighter in flavor but delicious just the same. Served it with potatoes roasted in some of the oil left from the chicken and a bibb salad with a lemon vinaigrette. This is easy, can be made days ahead of time and finished right when your ready to eat. It takes little preparation time, but the slow oven braise can be up to 2 hours, maybe more. If you only want to cook 2 pieces of chicken the others will stay, stored in the oil, for a week easily. Enjoy.
Ingredients for 6 Servings
6 skin on-bone-in chicken thighs—the larger the better—breasts can be substituted but will not be as succulent
5-6 cups extra-virgin olive oil, or enough to cover the chicken
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
6 cloves of garlic
Lots of salt and pepper, or preferably Mary’s Magic Seasoning Salt
Preparation
Heat the oven to 250. Liberally season the chicken with salt and pepper and transfer to a pan. They should fit snugly. Add oil, thyme and garlic.
Heat slowly over medium heat and when the oil just begins to bubble transfer to the oven uncovered. Cook 1 ½ to 2 hours until the meat is easily pierced with a thin bladed knife, or a thermometer that reads 160 degrees.
Allow to cool in the oil and then remove to a plate, cover and refrigerate until ready to cook. Strain the oil and reserve, covered in the refrigerator.
To finish the confit heat 4 tablespoons in a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning and browning until crispy. This will take about 10 -15 minutes. Be careful with this step, the oil will spatter. I recommend covering with a grease spatter screen.
Serve hot with desired accompaniments.