Skillet Roasted Chicken

The first time I made it, I made a few substitutions - I will give the original recipe and make note of my changes.

The first step is to cut a whole chicken into 10 parts - I would have done this, but I happened to have a ton of leg quarters with skin on in my freezer, so I decided to do an all dark meat version of this dish. You can use already cut chicken parts, they just need to still have the bones in and the skin on. Pat the pieces dry and season with salt and pepper. I actually didn't pat them, but I did leave them to hang out (seasoned) in the fridge for a few hours before cooking. The only reason I didn't pat them was because I was a moron and hit them with the salt and pepper before remembering that I should have dried them. Well, the fridge and the salt were merciful and forgiving of my idiocy - I still got a really great crispy skin, but I promise, I will dry them before I cook them this Sunday! I am not leaving crsipy deliciousness to chance!

Heat 2 T vegetable oil (I used extra virgin olive oil made for high heat instead because it is what I had) on med/high in a skillet large enough to hold all of your pieces, but not crowd them. Once the oil is heated, place the pieces in, skin side down - you will hear it start to sizzle immediately but resist the urge to touch them for 5 minutes! As Alton Brown would say "Just walk away!" Then turn the pieces - the skin should be beautifully browned.

Turn the heat down to medium/low, add 3/4 C chicken broth to the pan, cover and steam until the breasts (if you are using them) reach 155 degrees and the thighs are at 170 (10-16 minutes). Transfer the chicken piece by piece to a plate, pour the pan drippings into a measuring cup for later. Use tongs and a paper towel to wipe the skillet down and add 1 t of oil (I was supremely lazy and did not wipe the skillet, there was about 1 tsp left in the pan and I was soooo hungry I decided it was good enough. It worked out fine, but again ... not sure if I will leave it up to chance, I got lucky!) Put the chicken back into the pan, skin side down, it should be perfectly re-crisped in 5 minutes (mine were!) with the breast meat at 160 and the thighs at 175. Evacuate the chicken to a platter, tent loosely with foil, then turn your attention to the reserved measuring cup full of pan drippings.

Separate the fat from the drippings. The cooks on the show said not to bother using a fat separator because it might prove ineffectual with such a small qty of liquid, but I didn't listen. They were right so I dumped it back out of the crappy separator I have and just spooned it off, like they do on TV. I wasn't really picky though, I left a bit behind. I was hungry and wanted to speed through it!

Add enough chicken broth to the drippings to equal 3/4 C liquid. Heat 1 t of oil in the skillet on low and then add 1 minced shallot, cook until soft, about a minute. Add 1 t of flour and stir and cook for about 30 seconds. Turn heat to medium and stir in the liquid. Bring this to a simmer, reduce it to 1/2 C (about 2 minutes) - check the volume in a measuring cup! (I actually did this!

Return the liquid to the pan and then pour in any juices that have accumulated on the platter of tented chicken, cook for another 30 seconds, then remove from heat. Whisk in 1.5T fresh chopped parsley, 1.5T fresh chives and 1 T butter. I lacked fresh parsley so I used a little dried parsley, didn't have chives so I squeezed in some lemon for brightness and even though the show said the butter was optional, I believe that to be blasphemy. I am sure their version was divine, but so was mine!