Citrus-Garlic Confit Chicken & Potatoes
Happy Friday everyone! Here it’s a cozy, slow and snowy Friday. And while slow roasting weather has been here for a while, I thought about changing it up and doing something confit instead. Have you ever made something confit before? Similar to slow roasting, the (modern) concept of confit is to cook something low and slow in a type of fat (oil, rendered fat, butter, etc). And though the concept of confit incorporates a lot more fat than a typical slow roasted dish (which would rely on liquids such as broth, wine, etc) it nonetheless results in an unbelievably rich dish. And honestly, how can you go wrong with chicken thighs, potatoes, shallots, garlic and gorgeous winter citrus? In this recipe, I used one of my new favorite additions to the kitchen (Brightland Olive Oil) but also an ol’ reliable in Epic Rendered Chicken Fat.
I remember my grandparents, who lived with us growing up, used to cook alsmost everything in manteca (or fat) and I used to think EW! And would usually avoid eating anything made with “that” but now as I have gotten to know what how to make certian things taste even better, I have finally come around and love how it makes chicken extra crispy and everything else that much more savory. Though since I am still fairly health conscious, I opted to use more good quality olive oil and add in the rendered-fat sparingly. Ultimately this is a dish I hope you will love as much as we do!
Ingredients
Serves 4
1 lb mini potatoes (parboiled in salted water for 15 minutes)
1 cup good quality olive oil
1/4 cup rendered chicken fat (separated)
6 chicken thighs (let sit uncovered in the refrigerator over night to help dry out the skin)
1 head of garlic (pierced)
4-5 shallots (cut into fourths)
1/4 cup green olives (smashed and pits removed)
1 cara cara orange (sliced)
1 lemon (sliced)
2 tbsp Calabrian peppers
6-7 sprigs of fresh thyme
salt and white pepper
Additional items:
Large oven safe pan
Meat thermometer
Method
Preheat your oven to 225 F. Parboil your potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes or until they can be pierced with a fork (they will finish cooking in the oven).
Heat a large oven safe skillet on medium high and melt 1-2 tbsp of rendered chicken fat. Season your chicken thighs with salt and pepper and place the “pretty” side down in the chicken fat once it is hot. Cook until golden on one side then flip and turn off the heat.
Sprinkle the shallots, whole garlic cloves and olives through out the dish. Tuck the citrus under the chicken and haphazardly sprinkle the Calabrian peppers and thyme on top.
Pour the olive oil and remaining chicken fat on top and roast for 4-6 hours making sure to check the chicken with a meat thermometer here and there.
Once ready, the potatoes should be soft and chicken, absolutely delectable! Enjoy!
