Strabanzer Photography

A recipe from Scott Heddle that appeared in Allrecipes.com and which I made a couple of very slight adjustments.    

This dish is delicious and has a really good curry-like sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 bone-in chicken thighs

• kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

• 1 ½ cups chicken broth

• 3 tablespoons paprika

• 3 tablespoons ground cumin

• 3 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root

• 3 teaspoons ground turmeric

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 2 lemons: 1 zested and juiced, the other divided into how ever many segments that there are thighs.

• olive oil, or to taste

• 1 tablespoon canola oil, or to taste

• ½ white onion, chopped

• 1 cup pimento-stuffed green olives

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

METHOD:

1. Rinse the chicken thighs and pat dry with paper towel.

2. Season them with salt and pepper and set aside to come to room temperature – about 45 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C).

4. Peel the ginger using the bowl of a teaspoon to scrape it.

5. Combine the paprika, cumin, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, and 2 teaspoons lemon zest in a bowl and stir to mix thoroughly.

6. Add the chicken broth, stirring to mix.

7. Set a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive and canola oils. Heat until they shimmer and almost smoke.

8. Carefully add the chicken thighs, skin-side down, and cook for 4-5 minutes until the skin is a golden-brown color.

9. Flip thighs and cook the other side, about 4-5 minutes more.

10. Transfer the thighs to a plate and set aside.

11. If there is insufficient oil to continue cooking the onions, add a little more olive oil to the skillet.

12. Sauté the onion until softened -- 3 to 5 minutes.

13. Being careful not to splash, gently pour the chicken broth mixture over the cooking onions, deglazing any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet.

14. Return the chicken thighs to the skillet skin side up and spoon some of the liquid over them to moisten the upper surface.

15. Place the skillet into the preheated oven and bake until chicken thighs are no longer pink in the center -- 25 to 30 minutes.

16. Set one lemon segment between each thigh at the outside of the pan.

17. Add the olives to the skillet setting them between the thighs.

18. Drizzle lemon juice over the thighs and garnish the whole dish with parsley.

19. Serve from the skillet.

20. Rice makes a good accompaniment.

If you are going to halve the number of chicken thighs I would not recommend halving the rest of the ingredients.     The rice can take the extra sauce.