chicken leg quarters

Pat the skin of your chicken dry with paper towels. Taking away surface moisture allows the skin to crisp up perfectly!

Ok, now we have to do a few things to this chicken before we cook it. Flip it over, and look for any obvious pieces of fat. Take them off, we don’t need it.

Here’s what the fat looks like. Looks a lot like human fat, tbh.

This is where it gets gross. Scrape off any extra bone guts, if you feel like it. You could leave it on there, it won’t hurt you. It cooks away into tiny little brown chunks.

Also yank off any residual kidney’s if you see them. Again, they’re harmless if you wanna leave them on.

We’re going to really season the meat side of this chicken, so sprinkle some flaky kosher salt all over the flesh side. If you’re using a finer salt, use discretion.

Next, layer these bad boys with some freshly ground black pepper.

Grab some granulated garlic, and generously layer that on.

Finally, give them a good sprinkle of that super fragrant herbs de provence. Ah! This stuff is heavenly AF!

Drizzle just a little olive oil over the seasonings.

The oil helps the seasonings penetrate the meat easily, so rub it in good. All in the nooks and crannies.

It should look like this. The reason we’re seasoning the flesh side is because if we put this on the outside of the bird, it’ll burn. The only thing that can withstand a high roast without totally burning is salt. Black pepper can burn, but we’re gonna add that later anyway.

Flip the chicken back over, and drizzle just a little olive oil on the surface of the skin. There’s enough fat in the skin for it to “self-fry” in our super hot oven, but the olive oil gives it a better color, and it allows the kosher salt to stick a little better. You can skip this step if you want.

Ok, so the way I cook is totally out of order. Sometimes I do things I should have done 10 steps ago, 10 steps later. Case in point: I forgot to remove the extra backbone pieces, and the excess skin between the leg and thigh. See the pic before this one, and the one after this one, to see the difference. But here’s all that excess stuff I chopped off.

Nice and cleaned up. Seasoned with kosher salt and a little black pepper.

Arrange your leg quarters on your sheet pan, making sure the tips of the legs are facing inside. Why? because most ovens are hotter around the corners, and we don’t want to overcook those because they have the least amount of meat.

Chop 3 shallots down the middle, lengthwise.

Peel the papery skins back and thinly slice the shallots.

Thinly slice 4 to 5 cloves of garlic.

Zest a lemon.

Pluck the leaves of 3 thyme stems.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Throw in some herbs de provence, and crushed red pepper.

We want to bloom the crushed red pepper and herbs de provence, so help bring out their heat and flavors. This will take about a minute or two. Don’t let it go too long.

Add the shallots, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Stir all that around, adding a little more olive oil if you need some extra lubrication.

Make sure you stir all that around, getting every piece of everything coated. If it’s lookin a little dry, add a few drops of olive oil.

Add the garlic.

I opted to add a touch more butter. This is just how I cook. I don’t follow a guide, I just analyze the subject and determine what it needs lol.

You want it to sizzle like this. If your shallots and garlic are browning too quickly, simply reduce the heat.

A closeup. It’s so pretty. I wish you could smell this, but if you’re cooking along, you already are. This step takes about 5 minutes.

Add the fresh thyme.

Ok, be very careful at this point! Whenever fresh herbs hit hot fat, they release a ton of water in a very violent way. Expect things to pop like crazy, but luckily, you only have to stir this for about 10 seconds.

Pour in the wine, slowly.

Stir the wine around, scraping up any bits if you have any. Reduce the heat to medium-low.

Let the wine reduce just slightly.

Just a closeup. Let this reduce for about 2 to 3 minutes, it’ll happen quick.

Pour in the heavy cream.

Stir the heavy cream until everything is combined. Reduce heat to low, and let this simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes, tasting along the way.

Add the lemon zest, and stir it in.

Add a squirt of fresh lemon juice, about a tablespoon. This will add a nice bit of freshness.

Taste it! Does it need more salt? Now’s the time to add it. Turn off the heat and let it sit for a sec.

Chicken’s done! Because we removed all excess fat pockets, we dont have a pool of grease…just a puddle lol. Let the chicken rest for about 10 minutes.

Arrange the chicken on top of the cream sauce and serve. When you plate it, you’ll of course pour some of that luscious sauce all over your chicken and close your eyes in bliss. Serve this with your favorite side, or some garlicky crusty bread for sopping!