Crispy Chicken Legs

After a few weeks off to play with new ingredients, I'm excited to unveil something truly special. The crispy chicken leg.

I highly recommend using a cast iron pan on this if you have one. If you don't, use the heaviest pan you have. As a general rule, we don't use anything nonstick in our home because of the high risk for chemical leaching, particularly of those PFAs "forever chemicals." (GREAT book on PFAs here.)

The farmer I buy these from says this is one of his hidden gems, and I have to admit, I have until now never gone in search of chicken legs at the market. He likes to put them in the air fryer and frankly, if I trusted myself with the air fryer setting on our new oven, I would try it, but I'm not there yet. Still, I trust him, and if you're handy with an air fryer, I hope you'll give it a shot.

I'm a big fan of marinated meat where the marinade eventually cooks down into a silky syrupy sauce, and this is no exception. For these chicken legs, I marinated in a heavy dose of white wine, garlic, soy, star anise, and a ton of fresh herbs. I almost always add lemon to my marinades for meat as well, because it helps to tenderize the meat without impairing the ability to achieve that crispy skin from which dreams are made.

I layered these gems over a pillowy garlic mashed potato. Feel free to use the starch of your choosing or just serve these on a platter with the sauce drizzled over top just before serving. Don't add too much sauce or you'll compromise the crispiness. With this marinade, a mix of potato and squash mash, a cheesy polenta, or even plain grits would work well. I thought about doing a sweet carrot puree with nutmeg, but I wanted to save my carrots for another use. I wouldn't go with rice unless you want to make a risotto, because you sort of want the textural contrast.

This goes very well with a buttery Chardonnay.

Ingredients:

• 4 Hollow Oak Farm Chicken Legs

• 1/2 cup white wine

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 3 smashed garlic cloves + 3 diced garlic cloves

• 1 dried star anise

• 1/2 lemon

• a bundle each of fresh sage, thyme, and parsley

• NOTE: most poultry blends use sage, thyme, and rosemary. You are welcome to use the rosemary. I think it tastes like those little bars of rose-shaped soaps at your grandmother's house, so I rarely use it.)

• 4 medium potatoes

• Dash heavy cream

• 1/4 cup smoked or cave aged gouda

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter

• Salt to taste

• Cast iron pan with large spoonful of bacon grease

Marinate the Meat:

• Combine the wine, soy sauce, smashed garlic, star anise, and herbs together and stir. Squeeze the lemon and drop the rind in the marinade. Place the marinade and chicken legs in a container and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. You can put them all in a gallon ziploc bag for ease -- they really do a great job of coating all sides of the meat. I don't like using the plastic with food any more than I have to, so I use a large mixing bowl and turn the meat every few hours to ensure even exposure.

Prep Your Station:

• Remove the chicken from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking and remove them from the marinade to sit on a plate. The acid in that marinade is going to keep bacteria from growing on it while it acclimates to room temperature. Keep the marinade in the bowl or bag.

• Place your cast iron or heavy-bottomed pan on the largest burner you have and add the bacon grease.

• Prep a pot of water with salt; dice the potatoes and add.

• Grate your cheese and set aside with the butter and cream in a bowl.

Cook:

• Heat the pan to medium high - you want the cast iron to get nice and hot but not smoke.

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Heat the potatoes and water to a boil, then reduce only enough to keep it from boiling over. (hint: you can add a dash of oil to the water and it won't boil over).

• Once the pan is heated, place the chicken in the pan, giving them plenty of time to brown and crisp the skin on all sides. Once browned, remove from the pan and put on a baking sheet in the oven until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Meanwhile, place the marinade in the cast iron and let it reduce until it has the consistency of syrup.

• Once the potatoes are done cooking, drain the water, mash, and add the cheese, cream, and butter. Using a whisk by hand or a mixer, whip potatoes until they are fluffy and light. Note: Blenders should not be used for mashed potatoes. It turns them into the consistency of Elmer's glue. 

Serve:

• Swipe a large spoonful of whipped potatoes along the bottom of the plate. Add two chicken legs. Drizzle sauce over top. Sprinkle with parsley (optional).