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Deviled Chicken

Source of Recipe

From "See You on Sunday" by Sam Sifton


Recipe Introduction

"The easiest way to devil chicken—that is, to make it spicy—is to take a mess of thighs, shower them with salt and pepper, coat them with mustard thinned out a little bit with oil and amped up with red pepper and herbs, then roast them in a hot oven until they've gone golden in the heat and the bones pull away from the meat. The more complicated way, which Julia Child pioneered and the Los Angeles chef Suzanne Goin turned into a cultured gem of a dish, is to put the chicken, rubbed with a thyme-and-mustard-thick bread crumb topping, on a bed of sautéed leeks, then roast them until the dish becomes much, much more than the sum of its parts. It's an excellent meal to serve in celebration of a milestone, or just because you'd like to feel luxe. My recipe is an adaptation of Goin's adaptation of Child's. Life is a circle."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 12 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
â—¦ 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
â—¦ 4 fresh thyme sprigs, plus 2 teaspoons thyme leaves
â—¦ 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
â—¦ 2 bay leaves
â—¦ 1 cup dry white wine
â—¦ 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
â—¦ 2 cups fresh bread crumbs
â—¦ 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
â—¦ 3 shallots, peeled and diced
â—¦ ½ cup Dijon mustard
â—¦ 1 large egg
â—¦ 2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
â—¦ Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
â—¦ 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
â—¦ ¾ cup chicken stock, homemade or low-sodium

For the leeks:
â—¦ 6 large leeks, trimmed so that there is only an inch or two of green at the tops, cut in half lengthwise and well cleaned of grit
â—¦ Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
â—¦ ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
â—¦ ½ cup dry white wine
â—¦ 1 ½ cups chicken stock, homemade or low-sodium


Recipe

Prepare the chicken: Put the chicken in a large bowl with the onion, sprigs of thyme, red pepper flakes, bay leaves, and ½ cup of the wine and stir to coat. Cover and put in the refrigerator for an hour or more, up to overnight.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large sauté pan and when it foams, add the bread crumbs. Toss to combine and cook until the butter begins to go dark and smell nutty. Remove from the heat and scrape the bread crumbs into a bowl. When they have cooled slightly, toss with the parsley and 1 teaspoon of the thyme leaves. Set aside.

Return the sauté pan to the heat and add it to the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. When it foams, add the shallots and the remaining 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, and cook until the shallots are translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the remaining ½ cup wine and continue to cook until the mixture has reduced nearly to a glaze. Transfer that mixture to a bowl and, when it has cooled a bit, whisk in the mustard, egg, tarragon, and a spray of black pepper.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and discard the seasonings. Pat the chicken very dry with paper towels. Season the chicken aggressively with salt and pepper, and allow to sit on the counter while you make the leeks.

Prepare the leeks: Heat the oven to 400° F. Turn the leeks over so that the cut sides are facing up, and season with salt and black pepper. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, then add to it the oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the leeks to the pan, cut side down, in batches so that they are not crowded, and cook until they are beginning to go golden in the oil. Repeat on the opposite side, then remove the leeks, cut side up, to an oven-safe casserole or roasting pan. Pour the wine and the chicken stock over the leeks. It will not cover them. Put the pan in the oven and braise for 30 minutes or so, until the leeks are very tender. Set aside.

Now return to the chicken. Reduce the oven heat to 375° F. Heat the large sauté pan over high heat and add to it 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, place the chicken thighs in the pan, skin side down, and cook them, in batches, until the skin is golden brown. Turn the thighs over and cook them for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, then remove them from the pan and set them aside. When you are finished with the chicken, discard most of the fat, then add the chicken stock to the pan, scraping at the bottom to release the crispy bits. Cook for a few minutes, then pour the stock over the leeks in the casserole.

Toss the chicken thighs in the bowl with the mustard, then in the bread crumbs mixture, covering them completely, then arrange them on top of the braised leeks. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is done, then turn up the heat to 475° F and cook for an additional 10 minutes, until the topping is golden and crisp.