Roasted Chicken Provençal

This chicken dish is simple and easy to make. But the best part is how it will blow your mind, and you’ll think about it for days. You could substitute white wine for the vermouth, but don’t if you have it. Also, there’s no such thing as too much garlic or too many shallots.

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (or 4 chicken legs)
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ c all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp herbes de Provence
1 lemon, quartered lengthwise
8 to 10 cloves garlic, peeled
4 to 6 medium-size shallots, peeled and halved
⅔ c dry vermouth (Noilly Prat Extra Dry)
4 sprigs of fresh thyme, for serving (optional)

Make sure the oven rack is in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425º (convection if you have it).

Grab a large roasting pan (see note) and coat the bottom with the olive oil. (Try: sprinkling some of the herbs on the oil before adding chicken.)

Meanwhile, put the flour on a plate. Lay the chicken out, pat dry, and season with salt and pepper. Dredge in the flour (coat the chicken in flour), knocking off the excess. Lay in the pan.

Sprinkle the herbes all over the chicken. Then scatter the garlic cloves, shallots, and lemon in the pan. Pour the vermouth around the outside of the pan (don’t want to wet the flour or wash off the goodness).

Roast for 25 to 30 minutes. Baste the chicken with the pan juices. If you have none, drizzle a little olive oil over the chicken and add some more vermouth. Continue roasting for another 25 to 30 minutes.

Garnish with thyme and serve. This is great with brown rice and a veggie, or a salad and crusty bread.

Note on roasting pans: when picking your pan, decide how much sauce you want and how crispy you want the skin. The lower the sides of the pan, the less sauce you’ll have but you’ll have crispy chicken. If you choose a high-sided pan, you’ll have more sauce and less crispy chicken. I used my enameled cast iron braising dish – crispy skin but really no sauce. Sad, but that chicken skin…

Adapted from NYT Cooking.

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