Last night I made one of my husband's favorite dishes and its simple as well!
These chicken thighs start on the stove and finish in the oven and can be made with a simple pan sauce or enjoyed on their own, no sauce needed! These Brussels Sprouts have an Asian glaze on them however, once again you can roast the sprouts with just olive oil and they are simply lovely on their own as well.
Perfectly Crispy Chicken Thighs with Asian Glaze
Ingredients:
- 4 to 6 bone-in chicken thighs with skin
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- Salt and Pepper
Directions:
- To make the chicken thighs, preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
- Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels then salt and pepper both sides of the chicken thighs.
- Heat oil in cast-iron skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking.
- Place the chicken thighs in the skillet skin side down and cook two minutes over the high heat.
- Reduce the heat to medium-high and continue cooking skin side down, occasionally rearranging the chicken thighs to ensure even cooking and browning for about 12 minutes.
- Transfer the chicken to the oven and cook 12 more minutes.
- Then flip the chicken and continue to cook about 5 more minutes until the meat is cooked through, 165 degrees internal temperature and skin is nice and crispy.
- Let meat rest 5 minutes before serving.
If you wish to make the Asian Glaze simply, transfer the chicken to a platter and tent with foil loosely to keep warm.
Then pour off all but 2 tsp of the chicken fat, add in 1 Tablespoon each of mirin, honey and soy sauce. Whisk together off heat and drizzle over the chicken thighs, or serve on the side at the dinner table.
Brussels Sprouts is one of our family's favorite vegetables. I only discovered these little gems when my daughter was a girl scout and we had an international cooking event and began to look up the best ways to cook them. In my experience, the best way to cook them is to roast them. I've been doing it for years and we have them about once a week!
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Asian Glaze
Ingredients:
- 1 pound Brussels sprouts
- 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon of honey
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Trim the sprouts at the bottom stem and peel off any leaves that look sad :-)
- Then cut them into quarters. The smaller the cut of the sprouts, the crispier they are and therefore more delicious
- Place the Brussels sprouts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil (this makes for super fast and easy clean up).
- In a small bowl combine the oil, honey, garlic, crushed red pepper if using and distribute evenly over the sprouts. Space them evenly on the pan for even cooking.
- Roast in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, tossing the sprouts a couple of times to make sure even browning and keeping an eye they don't burn.
One final thought on Brussels sprouts. I often cook these without the glaze as well. To make Roasted Brussels Sprouts you may cut them into quarters, or shred in a food processor with a slicing disc. I recommend the food processor as I've been known to cut my fingers on mandolins once or twice!
Once you cut the sprouts as you wish, toss with olive oil. For one pound of sprouts, use about 1/4 cup olive oil. The oil makes them crisp up nicely.
Then generously sprinkle with salt and pepper and optionally you could also add garlic powder or lemon pepper.
Roast at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then check and see how brown they are getting and shake the pan to move them around.
Continue roasting until they are golden brown about another 10 minutes.