Not sure how I missed this. Food threads rarely slip by unread by me. I just did a search on the word “casserole” to see if I’d already asked the question I’m about to post.
While you’re not doing any of those things maybe I won’t try and figure out a way to adapt this recipe that calls for bone-in thighs and legs from Alex Guarnischelli to use boneless thighs. I’ve made it a couple of times and like the ginger and tomato combination more than I thought I would.
I’d love to make a version that worked better with my weeknight schedule.
My casserole search started with me wanting to get back to real cooking - I’ve fallen into a rut of feeding my son processed food which I’d like to stop now - that also allows us to eat before 8:00 pm. Some of the dishes in this thread seem like we could work them in. I will be not making them in a while. Or maybe soon.
Slow-thaw boneless chicken breasts or thighs in the fridge until they’re at a half-frozen state. Slice thinly with a kitchen knife; then refreeze or use. Great for stirfry or pan grilling for a hot sandwich.
I’m warning you DO NOT DO THE FOLLOWING:
Don’t even think of brining the chicken for 2-4 hours in a salt water/ brown sugar brine.
At the same time don’t soak a cedar cooking plank in water to get it saturated.
Then what ever you do, don’t rinse off and dry the chicken.
For OG’s sake do not apply poultry seasoning or some other non-salty seasoning to the chicken.
At this point don’t even consider putting the plank on a medium grill over a direct fire with the chicken on top.
For the love of all things holy, do not cook for about 40 minutes turning once.
You have been warned!
By thighs with bones and skin . . . then freeze the bones for great chicken stock. I don’t know why I keep doing this, it must be all the delicious soup.
Do Not buy refrigerated boneless skinless thighs at Costco, Do Not dump a half a cup or so of veggie oil into a large bowl/container with a blend of your favorite spices (definitely do not get a little generous with the spices) whatever you do DON’T put 4 packs or so of those thighs into the bowl and mix it all around til they are coated with spices and a bit of oil.
and whatever you do no NOT put them on your Treager Grill/Smoker for an hour or so on Low (turning once) then bump the heat up to medium for 20 min or so til they reach 185.
Do not cut some into strips, others into cubes and freeze so you can make sandwiches and breakfasts in the coming weeks, and whatever else you dont do
Do Not Make a Sandwich on Daves Famous Blues Bread with Spicy Mustard, Avocado, Smoked Bacon, Spinach, and if you happen to have any around super fresh from the garden tomatoes.
Chicken thighs are definitely fattier than breast and a different texture. Do you like thigh meat in general? Some people don’t. It is also possible you got a batch that wasn’t trimmed as well as it could have been. Sometimes I have to cut little excess pieces of fat off (although typically I don’t care, as I like a bit of fat.)
Maybe I don’t like thighs in general. About the only time I ever eat them is when my brother grills them, attached to the leg. Those are pretty good, but then again, he’s an awesome griller.
I do this for chicken breast and shrimp, so it will definitely NOT work for thighs.
In a Baggie, definitely don’t add melted butter, minced garlic, grated ginger, minced parsley, basil, and a little red pepper flake and/or grated horseradish. Do NOT play with the proportions in order to make enough marinade to coat the thighs. Leave them out of the refrigerator overnight, and when you’re ready to cook, heat up a cast iron skillet or other heavy bottom pan. Don’t add a crapload of lemon juice to the Baggie, and don’t mix this in well. Pull the thighs out of the Baggie with anything other than your tongs, and shake off the excess marinade. (Non-sarcastic note: leave some marinade on, the butter will be your oil for the pan.) sear off the thighs, and serve with self doubt and hatred.
So, I spent all summer cooking the hell out of some chicken thighs. I tried many of the recipes in this thread, from WhyNot’s Tanzanian thighs to Shark Sandwich’s spinach and cheese-stuffed thighs, to Hermione’s spicy honey-brushed recipe, which has become a regular on the grill.
For those who have found them fatty and gross- yes, you may have to trim off little pieces of fat before preparing. A pair of kitchen shears makes quick work of this. But the meat is so flavorful and tender- I swear, I think about it for days after eating it, it’s just so good.
One recipe involving thighs that has become something I make every couple of weeks now and which my family and I absolutely LOVE is Martha Stewart’s chipotle chicken and rice. Good lord, this is delicious. There is a moment during cooking when you’re sauteeing chipotles, onion, garlic, and cumin together and that is wonderful. I highly recommend this dish.
I also make a sauce that I invented with Vidalia onions, peaches, and chipotles (we really dig chipotles at my house) and bake with the thighs, and that is also very good.
See now, I get them with the bone and the skin for grilling. All the fat on the skin renders, leaving a really awesome crispy chip on the top, and the juicy meat really soaks in any smoke I add to the grill. Low and super slow - but it doesn’t work as well with boneless/skinless.
I will try it with the skin on if you can promise me that it does indeed get crispy. I live in fear of white flabby nasty chicken skin but I love crispy chicken skin.
