Roasted Chicken Provençal
This is a nice Sunday night or dinner party dish from the New York Times “Cooking” app. I just used chicken thighs, but I don’t see why you couldn’t do a mixture of chicken thighs and breasts, as long as they are bone-in. You obviously need herbes de Provence, which is a combination of easy-to-find dried herbs. You could make it yourself, but the pre-made version isn’t too hard to find these days.
My dish didn’t end up having a lot of sauce, so don’t count on that, but it was still delicious.
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
2 ts. kosher salt
1 ts. freshly ground black pepper
1/2-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 TB. olive oil
2 TB. herbes de Provence
1 lemon, quartered
8-10 cloves garlic, peeled
4-6 medium-size shallots, peeled and halved
⅓ cup dry vermouth
4 sprigs of thyme, for serving
Preheat oven to 400. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Put the flour on a plate and lightly dredge the chicken in it, shaking the pieces to remove excess flour.
Swirl the oil in a large roasting pan, and place the floured chicken in it. Season the chicken with the herbes de Provence. Arrange the lemons, garlic cloves and shallots around the chicken, and then add the vermouth to the pan.
Put the pan in the oven, and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, then baste it with the pan juices. Continue roasting for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, or until the chicken is very crisp and the meat cooked through.
Serve in the pan or on a warmed platter, garnished with the thyme.
Crispy Potatoes
My Mom has been making this side dish for years and I LOVE it. If you have a mandolin use it, but if you don’t, try to slice the potatoes as thin as you can. They get so crispy that it is a little like eating potato chips for dinner, but without the guilt!
4-6 medium yukon gold or red bliss potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced.
1-2 TB. olive oil
1 TB. dried (or fresh) rosemary
salt and pepper
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil or spray an oven-proof pan. Place potato slices around a pan in an overlapping circle, covering the entire pan. In some places you may have several layers of potatoes – that is fine. Swirl olive oil over potatoes and sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 40 or so minutes, checking on them. They are finished when they are nicely browned and tender.
