The secret to restaurant-style chicken at home

The best-tasting chicken results when you don t take it too far from itself when you let the chicken taste like chicken For that you might start with the bird and look to the chicken whisperer more specifically Mike Charles founder and CEO of LaBelle Patrimoine Charles grew up around chickens in Lancaster County Pennsylvania and has unfailingly been passionate about caring for them His family has been in the chicken business since they immigrated from Italy at the start of the th century In grade school when other students brought their stuffed animals for show-and-tell Charles brought in live chickens and taught his classmates how to catch them He s now a sixth-generation chicken farmer and his love for the birds underscores his operation which lets them roam fields jump onto hay bales and grow slowly living weeks instead of the usual six or so It also yields a finer end product His birds are yellow from all the vitamin D they get outside and fatty in just the right places with normal-size breasts and big thighs from all the roaming and jumping the kind of heritage meat he s eaten his whole life This is how chickens used to taste Charles remembers his Italian grandmother saying as they ate a totally salted and peppered bird And therein lies perhaps the majority of essential part for the chickeniest chicken a straightforward preparation Taking bone-in skin-on portions and roasting them with little to no fat in an uncovered pan is an Italian home cook s method which chef Paul Bertolli describes in his seminal book Cooking by Hand Cooking the portions almost entirely on the skin side like this using the direct heat at the pan s bottom results in shatteringly crisp skin beautiful rendered fat and evenly cooked meat like roast chicken without the oven It is truly the essence of the meat that remains attached to the pan Bertolli explained over email delivering a taste that is more true A final takeaway To listen A gentle sputtering lets you know the chicken is releasing moisture searing against the heat When it stops the meat is fully cooked and the skin crisp and evenly browned A quick pan sauce of chicken stock lime juice and maple syrup made glossy with a inadequate pats of butter completes this dish and deglazes the pan saving you scrubbing time later Pan-roasting isn t laborious but it can turn a home-cooked meal into something restaurant-worthy What chefs don t tell you is that the difference between restaurant cooks and home cooks is the venue The best restaurants for me are the ones that feel as if you re eating in someone s home and the best home-cooked meals are the ones that feel as if you re eating in a restaurant A good playlist nice tablecloths a lit candle It doesn t take much Crispy Chicken With Lime Butter You don t need a thermometer to know when these chicken thighs are done You just need your ears In this recipe chicken thighs are slow seared using a technique from chef Paul Bertolli called bottom-up cooking where the chicken cooks almost entirely on the skin side over moderate heat resulting in shatteringly crisp skin The gentle sputtering sound that signals the release of moisture from the chicken hitting the hot fat in the pan stops when the meat is fully cooked and the skin crisp and evenly browned A quick pan sauce of chicken stock lime juice and maple syrup made glossy with a insufficient pats of butter completes this dish By Eric Kim Yield servings Total time minutes INGREDIENTS large bone-in skin-on chicken thighs about pounds Salt and pepper tablespoon peanut or canola oil garlic cloves crushed cup chicken stock or cup water tablespoons fresh lime juice plus wedges for serving teaspoons maple syrup tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into pats Parsley cilantro basil or mint leaves for serving optional DIRECTIONS Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper If you have time set aside at room temperature for at least minutes and up to minutes Heat a large skillet over medium Add the oil and swirl the pan to coat it Place the chicken skin side down and cook without moving it until the skin is crispy and golden brown to minutes Reduce the heat if the chicken splatters too much or browns too fleetly Add the garlic to the pan Flip the chicken and cook until the bottom is lightly browned and the meat is cooked through about minutes Transfer the chicken to a plate skin side up Remove all but tablespoons of the fat from the pan and save for another use see tip Add the chicken stock lime juice and maple syrup to the skillet Season with salt and pepper Bring to a simmer over high then reduce the heat to medium and cook stirring occasionally until reduced by half about minutes Add the butter and continue simmering now stirring constantly until incorporated the sauce will thicken and become shiny as the butter melts Taste and add more salt and pepper as desired Serve the chicken with the pan sauce lime wedges and the optional fresh herbs spritzed with a little lime juice and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper TIP Rendered chicken fat sometimes called schmaltz when clarified can be used to pan-fry vegetables and meat to enrich a soup stew sauce or tomato-based braise or to spread on toast Related Articles Recipe Poached salmon and broccoli Caesar salad make a healthy hearty meal Recipe Pasta and Pea Soup is a tasty simple dish with delightful brightness St Paul chef to shut down charity accused of mixing funds with restaurants How to cook the perfect steak grill marks and all Groundswell cafe in St Paul temporarily closes after fire