Long-Roasted Chicken Thighs

One beautiful thing about this recipe is that, although it spends a long time in the oven, it requires almost nothing from you. Another is that it scales up beautifully: you can easily double or triple it to feed a holiday crowd. And a third? It is simply—and I do mean simply—delicious, with the meat gone fall-off-the bone tender and the skin as crisp as a potato chip. Feel free to use four leg quarters—that’s the thigh with the leg attached—if you prefer, or if that’s what’s on-sale at your market. (This is also a great gateway recipe for anybody, including children, who thinks they only like white meat.) Please note: You're going to wonder, when you take this out of the oven, if it's ethical to tear off and eat all of the crispy skin before you bring the chicken to the table and say that you cooked it skinless. You'll just have to do whatever you think is right.

Recipe Details: Long-Roasted Chicken Thighs

Makes: 4 servings

Total carbohydrates: 0 grams per serving

Hands-on time: 10 minutes

Total time: 4 hours 10 minutes (plus a day or two)

Ingredients

• Kosher salt, around 1 teaspoon per pound of chicken (or half as much table salt)
• 8 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (2 ½ - 3 pounds)
• 4 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 4 bay leaves, torn in half
• Black pepper

Instructions

1. Season the chicken soon as you get home from the market—ideally a day or 2 before you plan to cook it, but that same day if need be: Measure the salt into a bowl, then sprinkle each side of each thigh with it, using all the salt. Now sprinkle the bottom of a lasagna-sized baking dish (one in which the thighs will fit snugly) with the garlic and bay leaves, then arrange the salted chicken over them. Grind some black pepper over the top, then cover and refrigerate for as long as you can until you need to cook it—up to 3 days.
2. Turn oven to 350 °F, and take the chicken out of the refrigerator while the oven heats. Cook the chicken, uncovered, for 2 hours; then turn the heat down to 325 and cook for 1-2 more hours. When the chicken is done, the thighs will have shrunk considerably, the skin will be crisp and golden-brown, and the meat should be falling off the bone. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature with a green salad.

Photo credit: Catherine Newman