Crispy Garlic Chicken Thighs

These crispy garlic chicken thighs are delicious and a great dinner party main course - the dish needs no hand holding while cooking, will not hold you to a precise cooking time so you can enjoy a pre-prandial drink with your friends without keeping too close an eye on the clock, and tastes delicious both straight from the oven and at room temperature if you get side tracked.

The skin is crispy, the flesh is tender, and the whole dish is really flavorful. I highly recommend it. Keep in mind that bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are a non-negotiable in this dish.

As seen above, I first made this with a package of six chicken thighs, and then made it again for just myself with two. This is the recipe for two chicken thighs since this is a blog (mostly) for recipes for one person. You just need to adjust accordingly.

2 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, preferably organic, pasture raised, air chilled, etc. The better the quality of the poultry, the better this dish will taste.

5-6 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp herbes de Provence or dried thyme

Salt to taste

Remove the chicken from its packaging and place on a plate. Pat dry on all sides. Rub the chicken, especially the skin with a bit of salt. Place, uncovered, in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. This step can be skipped but it will make the skin extra crispy.

About an hour before you are ready to cook the chicken, remove it from the fridge to come to ambient temperature.

Measure the olive oil into a oven safe skillet and add the garlic. Set aside to infuse while the chicken comes to room temperature.

When you are ready to cook the chicken, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with the herbes de Provence. Place the chicken, skin side down in the pan.

Place the pan containing the chicken on the hob over low heat and cook for five minutes. Starting the cooking in a cold pan over low will help crisp up the skin further, by rendering out the fat.

After five minutes, turn the chicken over and move the pan to the oven. Cook for an additional thirty minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve. This would be good with garlic mashed potatoes with the garlicky pan juices poured over it. For the aforementioned dinner party, I served this with lentils, kale and leeks braised in red wine and butter. When I made this for myself, I made a green salad with a mustardy dressing, spread the garlic cloves over a piece of pan-toasted bread, and served this with the chicken to sop up the pan juices.